Reincorporating the excluded

Coordinator: Dr. J.M. Bavinck
Consortium partners: Bavinck (UvA, NL); Sowman (University of Cape Town, South Africa); Jaffer (Masifundise Development Trust, South Africa); Amarasinghe (University of Ruhuna,, Sri Lanka); Kumara (University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka); Menon (Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), India); Sosai (University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka); Van Drumpt (Cordaid, NL); Vivekanandan (South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies (SIFFS), India); Coulthard (University of Ulster, UK); Van Sittert (University of Cape Town, South Africa); Kumara (National Fisheries Solidarity, Sri Lanka)

Project goal:

Providing space for small-scale fishers in the sustainable development of South African and South Asian fisheries

Introduction:

Conflicts over fishing rights, stocks and methods are having a particularly negative effect upon small-scale fishers. In South Africa, apartheid has resulted in the long-term exclusion of black and coloured fishers from fisheries. In South Asia, between the territorial waters of India and Sri Lanka, small-scale fishers have suffered from the development of trawler fishing since the 1960s. The civil war in Sri Lanka resulted in many coastal populations evacuating their settlements. Now the civil war is over, these fishermen are returning home, only to find Indian trawlers infesting their waters. The objective of this project is to work together with small-scale fishers to contribute to, review and assess the development of fishery governance.

Project description:

In South Africa, the project will focus on monitoring and assessing progress on the development and implementation of a new fisheries policy that takes better account of small-scale fishers’ rights and needs. In the South Asian marine border area, we will be supporting the development and implementation of a new framework for the regulation of fisheries. A key focus in each of these areas will be on facilitating processes to reincorporate the excluded. We aim to use our research and capacity-building abilities to work with local fishers’ organisations to promote responsible fisheries governance that takes account of environmental sustainability, social justice and human well-being.