BRIGHT BLUE SEA CONFERENCE 30 May 2013

1. BRIGHT BLUE SEA CONFERENCE 30 May 2013 Sustainable Sea Food: a Sociological Perspective on Resilience and Artisanal FishingDr. Brendan Flynn, School of Political Science & Sociology, NUI, Galway. 1

2. What is Artisanal fishing and why does it matter for Ireland in developing a more sustainable sea food sector?What is resilience and what practical relevance could it have for Ireland in developing a more sustainable sea food sector? 2

3. "”””traditional fisheries involving fishing households (as opposed to commercial companies), using relatively small amount of capital and energy, relatively small fishing vessels (if any), making short fishing trips, close to shore, mainly for local consumption. In practice, definition varies between countries, e.g. from gleaning or a one-man canoe in poor developing countries, to more than 20-m. trawlers, seiners, or long-liners in developed ones. Artisanal fisheries can be subsistence or commercial fisheries, providing for local consumption or export. They are sometimes referred to as small-scale fisheries."http://thefishproject.weebly.com/artisanal-fisheries.html

4. “We use selective, low impact fishing gear. The owner works on “ the fishing vessel and we respect management rules or, if such rules are absent or insufficient, we apply self-imposed measures to protect the fish resources and their habitats. This way of working creates a firm social, cultural and economic link with our communities.”http://www.europolitique.info/pdf/gratuit_fr/324728-fr.pdf In fact defining Artisanal fishing is a minefield Can vary from region and context Some fishers resent being labelled as small scale Assumptions of lessor ecological impacts are not always evident Smaller boats today have much greater fishing/killing power-today’s artisanal fishers can have as much impact as yesterdays’s big trawler man?

5. Artisanal Fishing does NOT mean small time, amateurish or dangerous backward fishing- a Luddite agendaCan involve old and new technologiesSmaller boat = less fuel burn but also less towing and trawling power...therefore encourages use of different rigs other than bottom trawlingSmaller boats not necessarily more dangerous-safe fishing practices by staying closer to shore, avoiding bad weather. 5

6. And the point is?Not all fishermen are the same or to blame for overfishingWe need to support to those who are fishing more sustainablyBuilding Net to Plate Value adding links......Why shouldn’t the consumer know not roughly where my fish was caught (North Atlantic), but what boat, what gear, what skipper, what time (hour and date = how fresh) and the precise GPS co-ords......this is all doable via real time data systems (AIS, VMS, E-log book) and will progress towards smaller vessels eventually........and these are selling points...

7. Resilience? “the ability of groups or communities to cope with external stresses and disturbances as a result of social, political and environmental change. This definition highlights social resilience in relation to the concept of ecological resilience which is a characteristic of ecosystems to maintain themselves in the face of disturbance.” (W. Neil Adger, 2000)the ability of groups or communities to cope with external stresses and disturbances as a result of social, political and environmental change. This definition highlights social resilience in relation to the concept of ecological resilience which is a characteristic of ecosystems to maintain themselves in the face of disturbance.

9. As usual it is NOT an unproblematic conceptStress on flexibility but also redundancy, robustness and this may imply that lean, efficient social systems are actually fragile and therefore not resilient-a conflict there with economic efficiency (and modern market capitalism) Hard to take the general principle and make it workable in practice....BUT....building flexibility in our fishing fleet.....smaller vessels have less impact/fuel......less time at sea....lower trophic levels (eating, promoting, developing more shellfish, etc.), more and flexible no take zones

10. Not this.....More like this

11. Could these perspectives help resolve row over Sea Bass fishing?Current situation is that only Anglers can catch Sea Bass on conservation grounds.Since 2010 Fishing Industry has sought a limited return to commercial fishing....Anglers bitterly resist this arguing there is no evidence stock has returned to health........and point out the value of Irish Sea bass angling.......Perhaps on a trial basis a pool of small boats (15m/50ft>) could be allowed fish for sea bass beyond the spring spawning season giving them a single week window and setting a firm one tonne weekly catch limit and perhaps other restrictions on gear( ban on pair trawling).This would NOT be a permanent or larger scale re opening to commercial fishing...the whole point would be to work with and reward a mostly inshore flexible fleet or artisanal fishers who are adaptable and can switch between gears, areas, and species. 11

12. ConclusionsFish = 25% of planet’s proteinBut fishing is in crisis (overfishing, an impending marine fuel energy crisis, a globalized fish business that is boom and bust, consumers demanding greater sustainability) Ireland must take ownership of fisheries as policy-(instead of passive reception of CFP ‘reform’ (which is only partial)The conceptions of artisanal fishing and resilience offer some ideas to guide us......The goal is a sustainable local and regional fish market with higher value added product. Higher value is not just about packaging, convenience or processing or generic brands....BUT credibility, quality, distinctiveness, and integration of diverse issues food safety, nutrition, job creation, sustainability, etc.

13. Sample BibliographyAdger, W. Neil (2000) ‘Social and ecological resilience: are they related?’, Progress in Human Geography, Vol. 24, No.3, pp.347-364.Allison, Edward H., and Frank Ellis. "The livelihoods approach and management of small-scale fisheries." Marine policy 25, no. 5 (2001): 377-388.Berkes, Fikret, Johan Colding, Carl Folke (eds.) (2002/2008) Navigating Social-Ecological Systems/ Building Resilience for Complexity and Change. Cambridge: CUP.Brand, F. S., and K. Jax. (2007) ‘Focusing the meaning(s) of resilience: resilience as a descriptive concept and a boundary object’, Ecology and Society, Vol.12, No.1, pp.23-29. Folke, Carl (2006) ‘Resilience: The emergence of a perspective for social–ecological systems analyses’, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 16, pp.253–267.Freire, Juan, and Antonio Garcı́a-Allut. "Socioeconomic and biological causes of management failures in European artisanal fisheries: the case of Galicia (NW Spain)." Marine Policy 24, no. 5 (2000): 375-384.Gelcich, Stefan, G. Edward-Jones, and Michel J. Kaiser. "Importance of Attitudinal Differences among Artisanal Fishers toward Co‐Management and Conservation of Marine Resources." Conservation Biology 19, no. 3 (2005): 865-875.Marshall, N. A., & Marshall, P. A. (2007). Conceptualizing and operationalizing social resilience within commercial fisheries in northern Australia. Ecology and society, 12(1), 1Tzanatos, Evangelos, Evangelos Dimitriou, George Katselis, Michalis Georgiadis, and Constantin Koutsikopoulos. "Composition, temporal dynamics and regional characteristics of small-scale fisheries in Greece." Fisheries Research 73, no. 1 (2005): 147-158. 13