The struggles of fishworkers: new concerns for support. Triennial Conference of the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers and the Tenth Anniversary of the International Conference of Fishworkers and their Supporters, Cebu, Philippines, 2- 7 June 1994

Abstract

For quite some time now, global fisheries have been ravaged by successive 'crises'. These have their roots in overfishing, technological overkill as well as the widespread disregard for the needs and priorities of the artisanal and small-scale fishing communities. As issues that fundamentally concern fishworkers the world over, they are also the concerns that form the mandate of the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), an international NGO affiliated to the Economic and Social Council of the UN and admitted to ILO's Special List of Non-Governmental International Organizations. These questions were first addressed at the International Conference of Fishworkers and their Supporters, held in Rome in 1984. To mark the tenth anniversary of The Rome Conference, as well as to conduct its triennial conference, ICSF organized an international meeting at Cebu, the Philippines in June 1994. More than 90 participants from over 30 countries gathered to debate, share opinions and exchange views on the state of the world's fisheries, its impact on their lives and how this could be managed. This publication is the official record of what transpired at Cebu. It is a compendium of papers, reports and special contributions on topical concerns in global fisheries management. It also contains the reports of the various working groups which tackled the conference's themes. These converged in a final declaration which detailed the recommendations of The Cebu Conference. As a work of reference, this publication will be of immense use to researchers, activists, environmentalists, NGOs, journalists, policymakers and just about anyone concerned with the world of fisheries and fishworkers.