Government urged to include communities in discussions on ocean economy

A large proportion of communities who depend on the oceans for their livelihoods are being left out of the global billion-dollar blue economy according to Prof. Monieba Isaacs, who delivered the keynote address at the opening of the virtual All-Atlantic Ocean Research Forum.

A researcher at the University of Western Cape, and Acting Director of the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, Prof. Isaacs cautioned that the blue economy language around "inclusion and participation" did not always result in meaningful engagement.

"Let us not leave people behind," she emphasised, using the term "blue justice", which she coined in response to the overlapping social and environmental aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

She warned that the social goals would not be achieved by 2030 if the marine research community focused only on life below water and not life above water – those living near the water and those excluded during the creation of marine protected areas.

Despite guidelines, human rights are being violated and it is increasingly important to begin discussions about the mismatch of fishery management tools, which do not address the needs of small-scale fisheries.

Prof. Isaacs' interaction with marine scientists has shown her that the social sciences are often an afterthought.  She believes that this paradigm needs to change.

"We need to develop integrated analytic research and methodological framework to deal with the grand challenges that we are facing in a transdisciplinary way," said Prof. Isaacs.

She said it was important for the marine research community to deal with race and gender issues in relation to science, adding that researchers increasingly had to consider communities in co-designing and co-authoring research as a practice.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 85% of governments' fisheries subsidies benefit large industrial fleets, which leads to distant water fleets targeting stocks that are already unsustainable.

At a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in October, South Africa called for penalties against subsidies targeted at large-scale industrial fishing in order to safeguard food security and livelihoods for subsistence and artisanal fisheries.

The WTO has a role to play in achieving Target 14.6 of SDG 14, which includes prohibiting certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overfishing, and eliminating subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Prof. Isaacs said strategic issues like Operation Phakisa, including plans for offshore oil and gas, industrial fishing and aquaculture, meant that Africa was spearheading its own ocean economy to achieve the SDGs.

However, there were many gaps related to small-scale fisheries on the continent, particularly in respect of fishing subsidies.

Isaacs explained that women play a critical role in 60% of Africa's fisheries production, that at least 10 million people on the continent rely on small-scale fisheries and that 200 million rely on fish as an affordable source of protein.  However, the competition between small and the large-scale fisheries had its own challenges.

The vulnerability of coastal communities should not be ignored.  Such communities are largely sidelined when it comes to government structures and budget allocations for the blue economy, aquaculture and conservation.

"It is important that when we deal with these grand challenges of poverty and climate change, we deal with the challenge of these competing factors," said Isaacs, lamenting that the blue economy was shaped and constrained by politics instead of being interrogated by all sectors of society.

The two-day forum has been organised by the Department of Science and Innovation in partnership with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation.  It is a platform to enable a diverse audience – ranging from policy makers to research leaders, and civil society representatives to academics – to engage on topics related to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Atlantic Ocean is an invaluable shared resource of enormous importance to the communities and countries that surround it.

Equally, the Atlantic Ocean is a shared responsibility, and more research is vital to ensure that we have the knowledge we need for the sustainable management of the ocean as a whole.  The vision of the All-Atlantic Research Alliance is to bring together and systematically connect all relevant actors across the ocean to identify concrete research and innovation activities with long-lasting potential and impact.

Speaking at the opening, Dr Phil Mjwara, Director-General of Science and Innovation, said South Africa hoped to find ways in which the forum could contribute to the country's socio-economic recovery.

Speaking alongside the European Commission's Director-General for Research and Innovation, Jean-Eric Paquet, Dr Mjwara assured the participants that South Africa would continue investing in innovation to help meet its national growth and development objectives, including through the ocean economy aspect of Operation Phakisa.

The event is showcasing the progress of initiatives to support the implementation of the Belém and Galway statements on Atlantic research and innovation cooperation.  It will also see the launch of a new intake of All-Atlantic Ocean Youth Ambassadors.