Inland small-scale fisheries have occurred since time immemorial and still abound in many different contexts and locations – both in the Global South and North. They are a significant provider of fish both for food and recreation as well as for commercial sales, producing over 30 percent of the total world’s fisheries catch each year. They are therefore essential for promoting global food security and balanced nutritional health, and their contribution to regional economy can be strikingly large. However, the sector is beset by many urgent issues such as overfishing, biodiversity loss, habitat degradation, invasive species as well as socio-political factors that relate to tenure rights or large-scale hydro development. In addition, a more fundamental problem might be that there has been inadequate public attention and political will given to inland SSF thus hampering effective conservation and management efforts. Within the SSF research community, also, inland fisheries may have been unduly overlooked in our collective research agenda, even though they are in reality too big to ignore.
The Global Conference on Inland Fisheries held at the FAO headquarters in Rome in January 2015 was a landmark event that gave undiluted attention to inland fisheries from multiple angles. The conference resulted in several key recommendations, including: (i) improving biological and production data assessment; (ii) adequate valuing of economic, social and cultural dimensions; (iii) negotiating external threats and seeking cross-sectoral integration; and (iv) achieving transboundary and inter-jurisdictional coordination.
TBTI Inland Fisheries cluster is poised to utilize the momentum gathered in the Rome conference to conduct relevant and high-impact research that can contribute to improving the governance of inland small-scale fisheries. Detailed information and guidance about the cluster can be found in the “Concept note”.
For information on participation, see the “How to contribute” section below.
| Objectives | By taking a global perspective, the Inland Fisheries cluster aims to identify and analyze some of the prevailing social, cultural and political hurdles to sustainable utilization of inland small-scale fisheries, and in doing so, it seeks to raise the profile of inland small-scale fisheries and generate insights that can lead to effective governance. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research questions | E-book ‘Inter-Sectoral Governance of Inland Fisheries’: an edited e-book in Too Big To Ignore: Global Partnership for Small-Scale Fisheries Research (TBTI) publication series Based on the deliberated output of the Global Conference on Inland Fisheries held in FAO headquarters in Rome in January 2015, this e-book focuses on the theme of inter-sectoral governance of inland fisheries. Production of inland fisheries is dependent upon the quantity and quality of freshwater and aquatic habitats and is predominantly influenced by factors external to the fisheries. Many of the competing uses of freshwater resources, such as agriculture, domestic use and hydroelectricity generation, and the lack of cross-sectoral integration among them are impacting the fisheries in diverse ways. There is an urgent need to learn about the issues and experiences from freshwater systems around the world (e.g., lakes, rivers, wetlands, estuaries, brackish lagoons) and bring forward a synthesis that discusses the trade-offs and synergies of inland fisheries with other freshwater development options. For more information about the e-book, please see TBTI Inland Fisheries cluster_Call for contribution. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deliverables |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Timeline / Work plan | An edited e-book: ‘Inter-Sectoral Governance of Inland Fisheries’: January 31, 2016 First complete draft of chapter due February 29, 2016 Editorial review complete April 30, 2016 Final draft due July 31, 2016 Chapters appearing on TBTI website as they become finalized. To download the chapters, click here. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How to contribute | 1. Send an expression of interest for an e-book volume CLOSED The call for contribution of case studies, for an edited e-book volume ‘Inter-Sectoral Governance of Inland Fisheries’ is closed. To see the e-book and download the chapters, click here. 2. SSF profiles One of the main commitments of TBTI is to make information about SSF comprehensive and available to everyone. The SSF profile in ISSF is developed with this in mind. Currently, ISSF is running the first SSF profiles drive to complete the first 200 profiles. We would like to encourage all cluster members to help with this task by completing the fillable form and email it to toobigtoignore@mun.ca. We don’t expect that you will have all the required information. Please consult colleagues or literature as necessary. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cluster coordinators | Andrew Song, James Cook University, Australia Steven Cooke, Carleton University, Canada Paul Onyango, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Shannon Bower, Carleton University, Canada |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cluster members |
|
