Enhancing Stewardship in Small-Scale Fisheries through Ecosystem Approaches and Other Means
Too Big to Ignore Latin America and the Caribbean joint workshop with Working Group 4
6 - 9 August 2013
Curitiba, Parana - Brazil
ABOUT
"The workshop is organized to facilitate dialogue among people in LAC who are interested in discussing issues concerning SSF in the region."
BACKGROUND
Concerns about the oceans, and especially fisheries, have motivated people to work together in order to address the global “fisheries crisis.” Small-scale fisheries (SSF), and the uncertainties about how they affect or are affected by changes in ecological and social system dynamics, are among the key issues that require immediate attention.
Too Big to Ignore (TBTI) (http://toobigtoignore.net/) is a global research network and knowledge mobilization partnership on SSF. The main goal of TBTI is to enhance the understanding of the real contribution of small-scale fisheries to food security, nutrition, sustaining livelihoods, poverty alleviation, wealth generation and trade, as well as the impacts and implications of global change processes such as urbanization, globalization, migration, climate change, aquaculture, and communication technology on small-scale fisheries. TBTI is also concerned with the lack of understanding about both the impacts of SSF on ecosystem and the contribution of SSF to stewardship and conservation.
TBTI is organized around regional issues and thematic research conducted by working groups (WG). For Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), one of the key themes that TBTI aims to address in the first phase of the project is related to “Enhancing the Stewardship,” which is the focus of WG4.
OBJECTIVES
The workshop is organized to facilitate dialogue among people in LAC who are interested in discussing issues concerning SSF in the region. While other topics will be covered, the workshop will have specific focus on the project goals related to WG4. The workshop objectives are:
1. To introduce participants to the research and practical aspects of TBTI WG4 and LAC;
2. To engage fisheries researchers and others actively interested in SSF in a discussion about tools, methods and good practices used to assess and monitor SSF impacts, and to enhance stewardship;
3. To enhance SSF research collaboration and networking in Brazil and elsewhere in the LAC region; .
4. To discuss other aspects of research on SSF in the LAC region.
MAIN OUTPUTS
A major output of the workshop is expected to be a networked program for TBTI that enhances existing and planned compatible SSF initiatives in Brazil, and generally the LAC region. The discussion that participants have on SSF issues in the region along with the ways to address them may form the basis for publications on the LAC region and WG4 topics. Regional collaboration will be enhanced through this workshop.
The workshop is supported by Too Big to Ignore Partnership through funding from
the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
and
Universidade Federal do Paraná
