19 November 2014
CLSA Women say NO to Ocean Grabbing
35 Women from the Western, Eastern, Northern Cape and Kwazulu gathered yesterday in Paternoster for the Gender Workshop organised by Masifundise and Coastal Links South Africa.
The Gender workshop is a three day event that will take a look at Ocean Grabbing, its effects on the livelihoods of Small-scale fishers and how women play a role to obtain food security and sustainable livelihoods for their communities.
With the objective of creating awareness around Ocean Grabbing and its direct impact on women and communities – the workshop will assist these women to take a look at solutions, alternative livelihoods and programmes of actions that can be implemented within their communities.
The programme will be concluded on Friday 21 November to mark World Fisheries Day. Delegates will gather in Langebaan to plant a tree that signifies the strength and unity of small-scale fishers around the world.
World Fisheries Day draws attention to threats to our marine resources
Member organisations of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP) will participate in various activities to mark World Fisheries Day on 21 November.
In South Africa, Masifundise and Coastal Links South Africa are hosting a gender workshop in Paternoster, Western Cape.
World Fisheries Day was established to draw attention to overfishing, pollution of the ocean, habitat destruction and other serious threat to the world’s marine and freshwater resources.
It serves as a reminder that the world has to drastically change its way of managing global fisheries to ensure sustainable stocks and healthy oceans ecosystems.
A UN study has revealed the following: “More than two-thirds of the world’s fisheries have been overfished or are fully harvested and more than one third are in a state of decline because of factors such as the loss of essential fish habitats, pollution and global warming”.
Fisheries are important for the following reasons, among others;
- Fisheries and aquaculture employ more than 43 million individuals worldwide
- More than 25% of the world’s dietary protein is provided by fish
- The human population consumes over 100 million metric tons of fish annually.
Activities will take the form of workshops, cultural programmes, exhibitions and awareness programmes.
As fisherfolk mark World Fisheries Day around the globe, the WFFP wants to once again bring world attention to the dangers of Ocean Grabbing. This entails the privatisation of marine and land resources by powerful and wealthy elites, at the expense of small-scale fishing communities.
WFFP furthermore reiterates its call for the rapid implementation of the International Guidelines on Small-scale fisheries that was adopted in Rome earlier this year.
In a media release this week, WFFP General Secretary Naseegh Jaffer said: “The Guidelines give recognition to the small-scale sector and provides a comprehensive framework for sustainable livelihoods, gender equity and the protection of the environment.”
“We have made a call on our 40 member organisations worldwide to help create awareness of the destructive threats to our oceans and to advocate strongly for the solutions contained in the International Guidelines,” said Jaffer.
Dwesa- Cwebe Information Sheet
The Legal Resources Centre and Masifundise have prepared an information sheet that provides communities with a background to the Dwesa-Cwebe court case.
The information sheet will be distributed to affected communities.
Readit here: INFORMATION TO THE COMMUNITIES OF DWESA
A Changing of the Guard for SA Fisheries: From crisis to opportunity?
The short fall of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to effectively manage the small-scale fisheries sector has seen, amongst other things, the IR permit system being marked by controversy and corruption.
Alex Benkestein, a senior researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs, writes about the challenges faced by Mr. Senzeni Zokwana in his new seat as the Minister of Agriculture Fishing and Forestry.
Read the article here: http://www.saiia.org.za/opinion-analysis/a-changing-of-the-guard-for-sa-fisheries-from-crisis-to-opportunity