Fri, March 31, 2017 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS RESEARCH LABORATORY (AERL). Speaker: Dyhia Belhabib
Program Manager, Ecotrust Canada
We will look at the impacts of "convenient" management of fisheries, or the lack of it, on local communities and indigenous values through the scope of illegal fishing and fishing agreements, and we discuss the changes that engaging science can bring therein. It was estimated that over 26 million tonnes of fish, that is up to 23 billion USD are lost every year due to illegal unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU). We know for a fact that West Africa is one of the most heavily affected regions in the world. Illegal fishing affects both the socio-economics and the traditional and cultural fabrics of local communities. Over 600,000 Jobs are lost every year in West Africa alone, traditional diets shift, culture transforms to be more or less resilient, and the memories of people adapt to a harsh reality. Sometimes, illegal fishing becomes a “normal business” and ways around it are developed. Some indigenous communities become so accustomed to the presence of these big foreign fishing vessels that they develop trade mechanisms with them, and countries are expected to develop policies, to regulate what was illegal at the first place! To handle this issue, a new era of sanctioning was born, the EU's approach to reducing IUU fishing has been faced with major successes thanks to the yellow card, red card, and in some cases, the blacklisting of countries. As we zoom into the EU practices, we will look at how the EU exercises a certain right to fish in waters where there is a "surplus", however inconvenient this may be for the coastal communities, and sometimes indigenous communities in those countries. We discuss food security implications, and the change in the culture of these indigenous communities. Finally, we will conclude with some key lessons on how to squeeze out some real change out of our science, how to engage policy makers, beyond the discourse of doom and gloom, and beyond our expected ideals.
Location: AERL 120