Monday, September 27, 2010

Classroom participation goes global at the Inaugural WSFC

An international conference is an incredible opportunity for sharing ideas, but what about the people who, for whatever reason, aren’t able to make it?

WSFC organizer Ratana Chuenpagdee didn’t want the students in her World Fisheries class at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada, to miss out on the speakers in Bangkok, which is why they’ll be using this blog to stay connected, ask questions and get an up-close-and-personal perspective on what’s happening at the Congress.


 “The curriculum for the course contains readings from many of the guests who’ll be speaking at the Congress in October,” says Ratana. “Often, my students raise questions or issues after they read their assigned articles, so this will be an opportunity for them to get real answers from some of the most respected fisheries scholars in the world.”

To start, the students will read excerpts by plenary speakers, including Svein Jentoft, Chris Béné and Katia Frangoudes

Next, they’ll respond to the readings here on the blog, through a series of guest blog posts. The posts will help Ratana assess how well the students have understood the readings, as well as encouraging them to speak about these sometimes complex issues in a less formal tone than you traditionally find in academic writing.

Finally, the questions that the students raise will be posed directly to the speakers, filmed and shared, here on the blog, and after the conference in the classroom.

We’d like to encourage all conference members to be as active on the blog, and with the students in particular, as possible. Feel free to comment on their posts, answer questions, and raise issues, the trickier the better!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Why Hold a Small-Scale Fisheries Conference?

Good question.

This October's event will mark the first ever World Small-Scale Fisheries Congress. It'll be a chance for small-scale fisheries researchers, managers and interested public to connect, share and discuss the big issues affecting small-scale fisheries, both in their home regions and in the global context.

While there have been five World Fisheries Congresses (the first one was held in 1991 in Athens, Greece), it has become more and more clear that, although there are certainly areas of overlap (technological, ecological, social, and organizational challenges), there are enough specific issues facing small-scale fisheries to warrant a congress all their own.

Importantly, there are a lot of small-scale fishers in the world- estimates are as high as 35 million people, contributing something between 65% and 90% of world fisheries production!

As a result of these fisheries' staggering impact upon world food supplies and economies, the effects of emerging issues such as over-exploitation, habitat destruction, pollution, unplanned development, over-population and climate change deserve special attention.

From ecosystem dynamics and resource/space competition, to integration and global markets, the inaugural conference in Bangkok will take a distinctly small-scale approach to some fairly large-scale issues...

Exploitation, habitat destruction, pollution, unplanned development, over-population, and climate change all continue to affect small-scale fisheries—WSFC will help draw attention to the overall importance of this sector, the specificity of small-scale fisheries around the world, and the contributions that this sector can make to reverse some of the existing dire situations and to safeguard against future mishaps.
 
There is still time to register— just visit the official WSFC website here.


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

A Closer Look at Poverty and Sustainability in Small-Scale Fisheries.

Finding a balance between poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability can be a delicate  proposition...If you fish to eat, not fishing means starvation; however, if, by fishing, the ecosystem is degraded, a fisher may find him or herself in the very same predicament.

A major international project, PovFish, is shedding light on local, often grass-roots, solutions to poverty problem in small-scale fisheries based on case studies from around the globe. The project aims to link the effects that environmental insecurity and degradation have on poverty and food security, and vice versa.

We're very pleased to announce that the PovFish project, led by Professors Svein Jentoft and Arne Eide at the MaReMa Centre, Norwegian College of Fishery Science, University of Tromsø, Norway, will be at the 2010 WSFC along with the research team members from Asia, Africa, North America and Europe to present their work at the 2010 WSFC on Tuesday October 19th and Wednesday 20th. 

For more information on the project, please take a look at the website here.

                                           

    PovFish researchers at a synthesis meeting in Mwanza



Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Welcome!

The 2010 World Small-Scale Fisheries Congress is just over a month away, and in advance of the event, we'll be using this blog to keep you up-to-date on new developments and other conference-related information.

Once the congress begins, the blog will become more active, with postings about the sessions, interviews with participants, and photos. It'll also be an opportunity for those who can't make it to the conference to ask questions and comment on the themes and issues that arise throughout the proceedings.

Upcoming deadline:

We'd also like to draw your attention to September 15th, which is the deadline for submitting extended congress abstracts as well as student papers for consideration for the WSFC Student Award.

For more information on the WSFC Student Award, please click here.