We all believe that small-scale fisheries deserve more attention and more resources than they are currently getting, so one of the outcomes we decided upon for this conference is the creation of a list of areas and topics in need of more research and more work.
After a morning of sessions, the entire group separated into smaller groups, broken down by region (Asia-Pacific, Africa, North America, Europe and South America/Caribbean.) Those smaller groups then spent time synthesizing presentations and conversations from the past couple of days to come up with a list of top priorities for research.
The ideas were then presented to the group as whole. It was an excellent chance to see the overlapping issues from continent to continent, as well as revealing some of the challenges that are more geographically or culturally distinct.
Several major common threads emerged.
In terms of external issues, climate change and its impacts upon small-scale fisheries was mentioned by most of the regional groups. Issues like small-scale fisheries’ role in food security was mentioned, as was the role of small-scale fisheries in reducing poverty.
The need for better, more informed governance also emerged as a hot topic, with several groups, as well as commentators, raising the question of what role researchers need to play in making sure that research gets into the hands of policy-makers.
Another major theme was the need for collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas, research and practise: small scale fisheries issues have the potential to impact in a range of areas, from poverty, to health, etc. The suggestion was made that we need to be more proactive in finding linkages and maximizing our impact through partnerships.
Some of the points raised concerned the cold, hard facts, from better national stats on small-scale fisheries, to better methods of assessing the impacts of research.
This is just a sampling of the sorts of ideas that the breakaway groups generated: the presentations will be posted in the WSFC webpage shortly, and we urge you to take a look to get the whole picture.
No doubt, the issues raised should give us all plenty to chew on until the next WSFC.
In closing, I think that John Kurien summed it up best when he talked about the potential for this group to act in a prophetic manner: we’ve seen the past, we’re here in the present, and, given our expertise, experience and connections with smart and engaged people, we’ve also got the potential to see into tomorrow.
As we leave the conference, perhaps we can all strive to not only predict the future, but also to put our mark on it.
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