IS THERE A FUTURE FOR ARTISANAL FISHERIES IN THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN?
By
Ray C. Griffiths – Rafael Robles
Salvatore R. Coppola – Juan Antonio Caminas
Preface:-
Artisanal fishing, as any other human activity, is subject to continual change which depending on the circumstances may be positive or negative. Although artisanal fishing is a prevalent activity in many Mediterranean countries, it has in the past half century, been relegated to a marginal role, from a socio-economic point of view, manifested gas a steady erosion of a long standing tradition. And this in a period in which the demand for high-quality, fresh fish and shellfish has grown enormously while the state of the fish stocks has overall, become greatly weekend by overfishing, especially by the industrial fisheries, and by environmental degradation due to human activities on land and in the coastal zone.
However, consideration of the rehabilitation of the artisanal fishery sector in the Mediterranean has been lost in the wider discussion on the future statue of fisheries in general in the region, so has not been given more attention than in the past. Artisanal fishing, apart from its peculiarities, is the weakest element when large-scale management issues are being discussed, and the interaction between such fishing and the many other types of activity in the same area – essentially the coastal zone –calls for special attention.
First of all, more knowledge is needed to assess the observed change carefully, so as to direct artisanal fishing and fisheries towards a more modern management framework, respectful of the fish stocks and their environment, this need has been stressed for a very long time, not only with respect to the North African coast but also the European side. There is general agreement that only effective management of these fisheries – and the resources they exploit – as well as other socioeconomic components in the same area of influence, could ensure a more modern and effective management of the coastal zone.
The artisanal fisheries sector concerns many countries and encompasses many kinds of social groups, fishing gear and fishing methods. Is resources, shared by various countries, often move from one part of the region to another, and the size of the fish catch varies from country to country, as does the number of people dedicated to fishing and the economic value of the catch. In the Mediterranean, artisanal fisheries have never been seriously considered as a regional priority, although the United National Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) had already addressed this issue, in 1992, under its Agenda 21: Programme of Action for Sustainable Development: chapter 17: the protection of the Ocean and all kinds of Seas, including Enclosed and Semi-enclosed Seas, and Coastal Areas and their protection, Rational Use and Development of their Living Resources.
We and many others strongly believe that the future of the artisanal fisheries in the Mediterranean requires the formulation of new strategies for the rational management of the coastal zone and its resources, provided that the cover all the zone’s stakeholder communities that interact directly or indirectly with artisanal fisheries and take into account the interactions, conflicting or otherwise, and synergies amongst these communities. However, at present, no innovative and courageous measures are in sight, nor are there regulatory and managerial tools to give effect to such measures to renew the artisanal fisheries of the region in the context of a drastic but necessary policy of conversation of the resources and their environment. With this in mind, the FAO – COPMEMD project decided to make an inventory of all the artisanal fishery communities in the western Mediterranean, aimed at assessing their actual state and at promoting a debate that could bring the artisanal fisheries to the fore in the context of national and regional development.
Today, after several years of difficult and hard work, in which many colleagues on both sides- north and south – of the region have collaborated in the publication of the regional inventory and the completion of two pilot studies – in the Cilento area (in Italy) and in Nador Lagoon (in Morocco) – we have considered it useful also to prepare a book for as wide a readership as possible and broader than the interests of the specialists working in the field of fishery research in Mediterranean. It will we think, also be of use to those in possession of the published CD – ROM which contains precise information (not included in the present book), by country, port, fishery or fishing gear among many other aspects.
Through this book we are trying to render comprehensible and popularize the world of artisanal fisheries to those who wish, for the first time, to know more about them. We also want to reach those social and cultural groupings that were not taken into consideration as being possibly interested when the CD – ROM (inventory of the Artisanal Fishery Communities in the Western and Central Mediterranean) was undertaken. We therefore wanted the readership to include not only the artisanal fisheries community in the strict sense (fishermen and their families, their cooperatives and associations plus the fishery administrators) but also the local, regional and national persons and entities which, through their professional activities – social services, teachers, doctors, sociologists, psychologists, historians, statistical services, - are in contact with the fishermen, whether artisanal or not. The book is also aimed at all those – persons and organizations – that work in or take initiatives in the coastal zone ( tourism, industry, coastal zone managers and conservationists, NGOs,) or whose responsibilities or activities in some way interact with artisanal fishing. And, obviously, the book is aimed at all non artisanal fishermen, who often see the artisanal fisherman as poor brothers or even as close competitors. And if, after all, this book reaches schools, training centers and universities, it will have covered the whole spectrum of possible readers that have come to mind during the many discussion leading up to its drafting.
We have tried to make the book as readable as possible without sacrificing the necessary precision, and to make the book as easy to use as possible; in any case, no technical background is needed for reading it. We also think that books have a great advantage: they may be left anywhere or even lost without forfeiting the chance to be picked up and read by someone who might thus discover an interested in artisanal fishing.
In this way, the COPEMED project has been able to contribute to a better understanding of this sector that is so frequently referred to but always, finally, forgotten. We believe that, inevitably, it must be taken into account if the sustainable management of Mediterranean fisheries is to be publicly recognized as an important objective in the region’s overall socio-economic development. In this way, we hope that the work done on the artisanal fisheries will be found useful for achieving similar objectives in the eastern Mediterranean.
Contents:-
- Introduction.
- The species, their habitat and the fisheries.
- The fishing gear.
- Is there a future for artisanal fisheries in the western Mediterranean?
- Conclusions
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