Trade Policy Note Final-rev08 - Development

Annex 3B: Fisheries, Putting the products of the poor on world
markets
The fisheries sector is a source of nutrition and employment to millions of poor
people and has provided them with opportunities to access lucrative export markets.
However, exports of fishery products give rise to a series of challenges relating to
environmental protection and distribution of benefits. Developing countries are faced
with the challenge of maximizing the contribution of this sector to the achievement of
the MDGs. While the fisheries sector is unique in many aspects, other export
industries in developing countries encounter similar challenges of distribution of
benefits and environmental impact.
Fisheries and MDGs
Fishermen are among the poorest segments of the population, small scale fishing
contributes to a more equitable distribution of resources while being a source of food
and employment. 133 This is particularly true of those who have no access to
agricultural land, credit and capital equipment. According to the FAO, 38 million
people were directly involved in marine fisheries and aquaculture in the year 2002, of
whom 20 per cent may be in the small-scale sub-sector earning less than US$1 a day.
Another 17 million income-poor, including a high proportion of women, are
employed in boatbuilding, net making, marketing and processing.. Fisher folk are
often in the lowest segments of the population in terms of human development
indicators such as literacy, and maternal mortality. The fisheries sector is vulnerable
to weather conditions and natural disasters; the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
destroyed the livelihoods of millions of poor fish workers. Thus, development of the
fisheries sector can play an important role in helping coastal communities reach the
United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially Goal 1,
eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.
Fisheries and aquaculture exports have been growing rapidly. Globally, fish has
become a highly traded commodity, with about 37 per cent of total fisheries
production (live weight equivalent) entering international trade in various forms. Net
seafood export trade from developing countries has increased from US$10 billion in
1990 to US$18 billion in 2002 Total production (capture and aquaculture) rose from
118 million tons in 1997 to 132 million in 2003, although capture fish production
remained stable at around 84 million tons... The small scale fisheries sub-sector
accounts for nearly 50 percent of global capture fisheries. Wherever poor people have
been been provided opportunities to participate in the higher value market of export
species, they have increased their income substantially.
However, in the absence of effective fisheries management measures, exports may
have a tremendous adverse impact on fisheries resources in developing countries.
High prices for fish exports has led to overcapacity - excessive fishing effort,
investment in modern, destructive fishing gear, and over fishing in several
commercially important fisheries. In many countries this has led to a rapid depletion
in coastal fisheries with a serious adverse impact on small scale fisheries. Foreign
133 See publications and reports of International Collective in Support of Fishworkers at www.icsf.net
and www.icsf.org. See also Deere, Carolyn, Net Gains: Linking Fisheries Management, International
Trade and Sustainable Development (IUCN, The World Conservation Uni on, 2000).
(www.users.ox.ac.uk).
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