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Mundus maris newsletter: November 2021
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Dear <<First Name>>,

The webinar revealing many facts about the still largely hidden harvest of small-scale fisheries was definitely one of the highlights this November. At least key results of years of work by FAO, WorldFish, Duke University and altogether more than 800 experts have laid open the fallacies of perceptions about small-scale fisheries as small and insignificant. Small per person they may be, but together they are big in terms of contribution to nutrition, food security, employment and – did you guess? - value – USD 77 billion per year at the first point of sale! Anything but small and thus warranting the attention and support of citizens, governments, civil society organisations and researchers.

This firework of information and insights, which will be followed by the release of a more elaborated report in early 2022, provided further substantiation to FAO’s virtual inauguration of the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA) on 19 November. In the event, FAO fielded senior government officials, representatives of small-scale fishers and aquaculturists from different parts of the world. The centre piece were claims to the rights of the men and women in the trade and the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication. Their recognition needs to translate also into action against practices undermining their sustainability. Harmful subsidies to industrial fisheries perpetuating overfishing and the implementation gap concerning agreed targets for coastal and ocean protection and among the principal obstacles.

Our own activities in November were equally focused on support to small-scale fisheries as you will see in the teasers from around the globe. One of the major efforts was a workshop of the Small- Scale Fisheries Academy in Yoff, Senegal, after a long interruption of regular work due to the pandemic. The commitment of academy learners and their outreach into families and traditional authorities in the community, all taking an increased interest in the academy’s potential is encouraging. Change is in the air – and much needed to build local livelihoods fit for the future. The growing confidence of academy learners is enabling them to become part of a broader conversation and expand the learning pathways with others during IYAFA. These are steps to advance implementing the Voluntary Guidelines and bring about solid improvements. But to maintain and even extend these results, we need your help.

At this time of the year, we want to appeal to readers and followers to become godparents for the extension of Academy activities. We need at least 50 additional regular donors with monthly contributions of 50€ or many more able to chip in smaller amounts or any other regular or one- time gift. Any financial support is helpful to translate directly into activities on the ground as we work mostly with volunteers and have very low overhead costs. Be part of the vision of a sort of ‘gift economy’ of mutual support. Join the journey for positive change for ourselves and many more people developing new opportunities as a result of our activities. Thanks so much if you do.

That’s the best present for X-mas and the end of the year festivities.
Mundus maris asbl, Belfius Bank, Rue de Linthout 224, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
IBAN: BE54 0688 9178 6297            BIC: GKCCBEBB

Contact us any time at info@mundusmaris.org. We continue welcoming help from all interested ocean lovers, including retired professionals who would like to put their lifelong experience at the service of the sustainability and blue justice causes we work for. 5 December has been declared by the UN as International Volunteer Day – we say, join us to get satisfaction out of doing useful things for the common good throughout the year and specifically for people less fortunate than some others – join us and make a difference! Heartfelt Season’s greetings.

Cornelia E. Nauen and the entire Mundus maris team

Support our work with a donation

Activities around the world

Kiel – International Fisheries Week – Ocean Days

Ocean Philosophers and Mundus maris teamed up for a workshop on sustainable fisheries in Kiel, on 17 November 2021, to cast some light on the difficulties of small-scale fishers in Europe and seek ways to support their low impact activities with high potential to lead to sustainable forms of fishing. That was intended to be a contribution to the Fisheries Week organised as part of the Ocean Summit in Schleswig Holstein, northern Germany. In particular, the event was to highlight World Fisheries Day, which is celebrated the world over each year on 21 November.

Find out more

The Adaptability of Small-Scale Fisheries: V2V monthly webinar

The November 2021 webinar of the V2V research platform featured Jeremy Pittman of the University of Waterloo. Together with colleagues from the Fisheries Department in Dominica and of the University of Waterloo Jeremy has done on-site research in this Caribbean island. His talk was titled 'Identifying entry points to enhance the adaptive capacity of small-scale fisheries communities'. The basic hypothesis presented was that small-scale fisheries with high adaptive capacity have a higher viability than those with low adaptive capacity.

Discover more

New FishBase Guide App for minimum size – fish for ever

Fish rulers indicating the minimum size at which major commercial species reproduce are country- specific and are expensive to disseminate. Respecting such a minimum size in fishing and commerce would go a long way towards reducing widespread overfishing. So, we thought of another way to make this information available, not in one place, but anywhere by tapping into the treasure trove of FishBase, all fish species known to science. Not everybody knows the scientific name though – but the new free android app let’s you search by common name in any language.

Check it out!

Lecture on overfishing and SDGs at the University of Potsdam

Studium oecologicum is a core sustainability programme at the University of Potsdam organised by student representatives for students from any discipline. Cornelia E Nauen of Mundus maris was invited in this context to give a talk on 19 November 2021 on the meaning of overfishing and its relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. Overfishing is often associated with unsustainable or even criminal practices and has far-reaching negative effects on marine biodiversity, the capacity of the ocean and its ecosystems to cope with climate change, our seafood supplies and on the lives of people in artisanal fisheries.

Read on to discover more

Illuminating the hidden harvest of small-scale fisheries – an eye opener

FAO’s webinar on 23 November 2021 provided a snapshot of major outcomes of an in-depth study ‘Illuminating the hidden harvest – the contribution of small-scale fisheries (SSF) to sustainable development’ undertaken by >800 experts with case studies in 58 countries covering important marine and inland fisheries. FAO, Duke University and WorldFish launched this initiative in 2017, inspired by the 2012 World Bank report casting light on the much neglected contributions of artisanal fishers - men and women.

More to come - check here

The Academy is continuing its work in Yoff

It’s been a long time coming. - From November 22 to 24, 2021, the next capacity strengthening workshop was held for those enrolled in the Yoff Artisanal Fisheries Academy. This workshop was long awaited because the activities of the academy had been put at half mast for almost two years because of the health crisis. The objective of the workshop was for the participants to take stock of the work accomplished, to continue with the analysis of the value chain of artisanal fishing in the Yoff area and to develop individual and collective action plans for the next 12 months.

Read more
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