Protecting subsitence fishing communities is protecting our oceans

Since the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), the CETIM – in collaboration with La Via Campesina in particular – has been running training courses for peasant organisation executives.

In her report to the 58th session of the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, Ms. Astrid Puentes Riaño¹ , painted an uncompromising picture: 492 million people, wholly or partly dependent on artisanal fisheries, are seeing their fundamental rights threatened by the ecological crisis and unfair economic and trade policies.

The report emphasises that coastal populations, indigenous peoples, subsistence fishers and marginalised communities disproportionately suffer from the adverse effects of ocean degradation. Women, who make up almost half of the workforce in the fisheries sector, are particularly vulnerable, because they are often excluded from decision-making processes and do not benefit from the recognition of their traditional rights. Subsistence fishers, whose ancestral knowledge and practices contribute to the preservation of biodiversity, face the expansion of industrial fishing, which monopolises resources and erodes marine ecosystems.

In response to these challenges, the Special Rapporteur urges States to adopt an ecosystem and human rights-based approach to ocean management, and to prevent, control and reduce damage to the marine environment by strengthening environmental regulation and applying the precautionary principle.

She also recommends ensuring access to information, public participation and access to justice for communities affected by marine activities. She emphasises the need to restore marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass, and to protect habitats that are vulnerable to industrial activities. She also calls on States to strengthen the rights of subsistence fishers, to end overfishing and to eliminate subsidies that favour unsustainable industrial fishing.

It should be recalled that, like the rights of peasants and other land workers, the rights of subsistence fishers are protected by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (art. 1). If used wisely by rights holders, the Declaration will help to advance the implementation of the right to food and the protection of the rights of people who depend on artisanal fisheries.

1. See. A/HRC/58/59, 31 december 2024.