Artisanal Fishery, A Component of Food Sovereignty - 中欧社会论坛 - China Europa Forum

Artisanal Fishery, A Component of Food Sovereignty

Authors: Juliette Decoster

Date: 2001

Published by Charles Leopold Mayer foundation for the Progress of Humankind, Paris, France

The Fishworkers Collective developed greatly at the end of the year 2000 and in 2001, under the impulse of four important meetings:

The constituent assembly of the World Forum of Fish-Harvesters and Fishworkers in Loctudy (France) from 2nd to 6th of October 2000, was trying to establish an official base for a world organisation of artisanal fishworkers, to be a place for decision and action. Subsequently to power conflicts, it spawned two distinct forums. That clivage reinforced the necessity to create debate opportunities between fishworkers organisations on a worldwide level. The Fishworkers Collective, formed by representatives from fishworkers organizations with whom the Foundation has been working for a long time (CREDETIP, CONAPACH, ADEPA, ICSF), has oriented all of its actions in this direction.

The International Collective in Support of Fishworkers was requested to animate the reflexion over fishery’s challenges for the 21st century, and to contribute to the proposals booklet that nurtured the debates of the following meetings:

The World Forum of Fish-Harvesters and Fishworkers, in Quebec, Canada, from the 18th to the 21st of April 2001, representing coastal fishworkers of Latin America, Europe and North America, within the People’s Summit of the Americas.

The meeting on Artisanal Fishery and Food Sovereignty in La Habana, Cuba, from the 31st of August to the 2nd of September 2001, where 30 fishworkers representing various fishworkers communities and organisations from Africa, Europe and Latin America, as well as the Cuban Ministry of Fishery, submitted and debated over proposals about fishery’s challenges in terms of food sovereignty. The text that was written and approved on this occasion constitutes a major citizen contribution to defend and promote sustainable fishery and aquaculture on a worldwide level.

The World Forum on Food Sovereignty in La Habana, Cuba, from the 3rd to the 10th of september 2001, that was a historical moment thanks to the srong participation of fishworkers and fishworkers organisations. The fishery sector, often neglected or omitted in debates over food issues, played a major role this time. Never before had the peasant organisations, and NGO’s involved in food issues, taken the importance of artisanal fishery into such account; and many bonds between those organisations were tied on this occasion. This event was strongly highlighted in the conference about food sovereignty that was held during the World Social Forum in Porto Allegre in January 2002.

The presence of ten fishworkers at the World Citizens Assembly in Lille allowed diffusion of the proposals booklet gathering contributions from various fishworkers organisations involved in the reflexion over the role of artisanal fishery, its challenges, and the connection between fishery and food sovereignty.

This document in different languages

Page translations: