3.3 Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale
Fisheries
UNCLOS specifically recognizes the vulnerability of small-scale fisheries. In Article
61, States recognized the “economic needs of coastal fishing communities” as a
factor that conditions how coastal States should calculate a maximum sustainable
yield for fisheries resources. The FAO has given special attention to assisting smallscale fishers operating particularly in coastal fisheries.
40 With coastal fisheries
providing a critical source of protein for at least 4.3 billion people, the FAO has
focused on enhancing protection of these fisheries and the local fishers who utilize
these fisheries as an essential part of enhancing food security.
41 As part of the
Coastal Fisheries Initiative that FAO has been coordinating to promote large marine
ecosystem management, the FAO has worked with a wide variety of stakeholders
including FAO members, fishers, traditional and customary authorities, and others to
draft a set of “Voluntary Guidelines”. While UNCLOS is not mentioned in these
guidelines except for a general reference to international law, central concepts such
as the ecosystem approach to fisheries are central to the guidelines.
42
FAO’s work is noteworthy because it bridges between public international law
instruments such as UNCLOS and international human rights instruments. The
guidelines adopt a human rights approach to sustainability by connecting activity
of fishing and the health of fisheries with the protection of human rights. For States,
FAO’s contribution to these guidelines is also significant in terms of assisting FAO
States, most of whom are also members of UNCLOS, to offer some content to
concepts negotiated under UNCLOS but not elaborated upon.
For example, while the UNCLOS preamble provides that the law of the sea
should be applied to “promote the economic and social advancement of all peoples”,
the FAO guidelines provide specific examples of how States and other stakeholders
might be able to achieve this objective. The guidelines offer a concrete example of
socio-economic developing through the State protected determination of the use and
tenure rights to coastal fisheries in a manner that safeguards small-scale fishing
communities.
43 The FAO guidelines acknowledge not just the economic needs of
coastal fishing communities but also the broader social needs. In this way, the
specific information about how to code information to be used for sharing with other Parties to the
PSMA and Annex E offers a set of general guidelines to be used by States in developing a training
program for Port Inspectors.
40 Westlund and Zelasney (2019).
41 Food and Agriculture Organization, Increasing the Contribution of Small-Scale Fisheries to
Poverty Alleviation and Food Security, FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries
10 (2005).
42 FAO, Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of
Food Security and Poverty Eradication (2015). Available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4356en.pdf
Guideline 3 (Recognizing the ecosystem approach to fisheries as part of a principle to pursue
“holistic and integrated approaches”).
43 Id. at Principle 5a.
214
A. Telesetsky
Fisheries
UNCLOS specifically recognizes the vulnerability of small-scale fisheries. In Article
61, States recognized the “economic needs of coastal fishing communities” as a
factor that conditions how coastal States should calculate a maximum sustainable
yield for fisheries resources. The FAO has given special attention to assisting smallscale fishers operating particularly in coastal fisheries.
40 With coastal fisheries
providing a critical source of protein for at least 4.3 billion people, the FAO has
focused on enhancing protection of these fisheries and the local fishers who utilize
these fisheries as an essential part of enhancing food security.
41 As part of the
Coastal Fisheries Initiative that FAO has been coordinating to promote large marine
ecosystem management, the FAO has worked with a wide variety of stakeholders
including FAO members, fishers, traditional and customary authorities, and others to
draft a set of “Voluntary Guidelines”. While UNCLOS is not mentioned in these
guidelines except for a general reference to international law, central concepts such
as the ecosystem approach to fisheries are central to the guidelines.
42
FAO’s work is noteworthy because it bridges between public international law
instruments such as UNCLOS and international human rights instruments. The
guidelines adopt a human rights approach to sustainability by connecting activity
of fishing and the health of fisheries with the protection of human rights. For States,
FAO’s contribution to these guidelines is also significant in terms of assisting FAO
States, most of whom are also members of UNCLOS, to offer some content to
concepts negotiated under UNCLOS but not elaborated upon.
For example, while the UNCLOS preamble provides that the law of the sea
should be applied to “promote the economic and social advancement of all peoples”,
the FAO guidelines provide specific examples of how States and other stakeholders
might be able to achieve this objective. The guidelines offer a concrete example of
socio-economic developing through the State protected determination of the use and
tenure rights to coastal fisheries in a manner that safeguards small-scale fishing
communities.
43 The FAO guidelines acknowledge not just the economic needs of
coastal fishing communities but also the broader social needs. In this way, the
specific information about how to code information to be used for sharing with other Parties to the
PSMA and Annex E offers a set of general guidelines to be used by States in developing a training
program for Port Inspectors.
40 Westlund and Zelasney (2019).
41 Food and Agriculture Organization, Increasing the Contribution of Small-Scale Fisheries to
Poverty Alleviation and Food Security, FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries
10 (2005).
42 FAO, Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of
Food Security and Poverty Eradication (2015). Available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4356en.pdf
Guideline 3 (Recognizing the ecosystem approach to fisheries as part of a principle to pursue
“holistic and integrated approaches”).
43 Id. at Principle 5a.
214
A. Telesetsky