Implementation of the FAO SSF Guidelines, through appropriate legislation, would go a long way to help shore up the livelihoods of the small-scale fisherfolk of Pakistan

Bhatti, Roshan

Shah, Muhammed Ali

Aquatic Commons

60
SAMUDRA REPORT NO. 75
SSF WORKSHOP
Report
This article is by Muhammed Ali Shah 
(malishah56@gmail.com), and Roshan 
Bhatti (bhattiroshan01@gmail.com) 
of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), Karachi, 
Pakistan
The Committee on Fisheries (COFI) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United 
Nations (FAO), at its Thirty-first 
Session in June 2014, formally 
adopted the Voluntary Guidelines 
for Securing Sustainable Small-scale 
Fisheries in the Context of Food 
Security and Poverty Eradication 
(SSF Guidelines). 
The International Fund for 
Agricultural Development (IFAD), 
a specialized agency of the United 
Nations, granted a project in 
December 2015 to a consortium 
comprising the World Forum of 
Fisher Peoples (WFFP), the World 
Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fish 
Workers (WFF), the International 
Collective in Support of Fishworkers 
(ICSF) and Centro Internazionale 
Crocevia (CIC) to promote 
awareness about the SSF Guidelines 
and to mobilize support for their 
implementation across countries of 
the Global South. 
The National Workshop on 
Capacity-building for the 
Implementation of the SSF Guidelines, 
held in Karachi, was the first in a 
series in Pakistan as part of the 
efforts to mobilize support for the 
implementation of the SSF Guidelines. 
The workshop was organized 
by the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum 
in collaboration with WFFP at Hotel 
Regent Plaza, Karachi during 24-25 
August 2016. 
The participants of the national 
workshop included: women and men 
leaders of inland, marine and coastal 
fisheries; fishworkers and fishing 
communities from across the entire 
country; representatives of federal 
and provincial agencies, particularly 
those dealing with fisheries, 
environment, labour, trade and 
human development; representatives 
of civil society organizations (CSOs) 
and NGOs, scientific organizations, and 
the representatives of FAO, IFAD, ILO 
and others in Pakistan.
At the outset, the participants paid 
tribute to the late Tahira Ali Shah, 
the PFF’s leader who lost her life in 
March 2015 during one of the major 
campaigns of PFF. Her struggle for 
the uplift of the marginalized fishing 
and peasant communities of Pakistan 
was acknowledged at the occasion. 
Jamil Junejo, Manager, 
Programmes of the PFF, welcomed 
all the participants of the workshop. 
Muhammad Ali Shah, Chairperson, 
PFF and WFFP, gave a detailed and 
technical presentation on the SSF 
Guidelines. He said the major role of 
the guidelines was to move towards 
responsible fisheries. “Until and unless 
this objective is achieved, we cannot 
save the fisheries and protect the lives 
of the fisher people,” he said. He also 
presented the history and salient 
features of the SSF Guidelines.
Human-rights laws
The opening session discussed 
implementation of the guiding 
principles of the SSF Guidelines, 
human-rights laws and the 
constitution of Pakistan. Mir Hasil 
Khan Bizanjo, the Federal Minister 
for Port and Shipping, was the key 
speaker. “Small-scale fishermen 
suffer from starvation while the mafia 
Looking Ahead
Implementation of the FAO SSF Guidelines, through appropriate legislation, would go 
a long way to help shore up the livelihoods of the small-scale fi sherfolk of Pakistan
(The workshop) was the fi rst in a series in Pakistan 
as part of the efforts to mobilize support for the 
implementation of the SSF Guidelines.
JANUARY 2017
61
is depleting the marine resources 
badly,” said the federal minister. 
He further added that the use of the 
destructive nets is a major threat 
to small-scale fishing and must be 
banned. Sindh and Baluchistan 
governments should take notice of it, 
he suggested. 
The Minister for Livestock and 
Fisheries Sindh, Muhammad Ali 
Malkani, said that until and unless 
there is an effective endorsement of 
the SSF Guidelines from all 
stakeholders, implementation will be 
a challenge. He announced that 
the Sindh government would soon 
establish a Fisheries Advisory Council 
for which he seeks guidance of the 
fishing communities. 
Haji Shafi Muhammad Jamote, 
member of the Sindh Assembly, said 
that the human and industrial waste 
in the canal waters and the sea was 
affecting the common citizens and 
marine resources. He said overfishing 
was a big issue and suggested that 
industrialists be discouraged from 
fishing and the small-scale bona fide 
fishermen be encouraged. 
Nasar Hayat, Assistant 
Representative, Head of Progaramme, 
FAO Pakistan, said that every 
legislation is made for the benefit 
of the small-scale fishers and they 
should be made part of it. Under the 
SSF Guidelines, access to resources 
is the basis for poverty alleviation in 
the world and these Guidelines were 
made under such a programme. If 
people have sustainable access to 
resources, they will have food security 
and their poverty would also reduce. 
Pakistan was part of the process of 
the SSF Guidelines in a significant 
way during the consultation phase. 
Pakistan has a big role in the 
development of the SSF Guidelines 
and now it is the responsibility of the 
government to implement it in their 
legislation. He assured the technical 
assistance of FAO, if required at 
any level.
Aly Ercelan, senior researcher, 
said that national policy on food 
security is under the consideration of 
the federal government as well as in 
the provinces. The SSF Guidelines 
should be seriously taken into 
account. At the federal level, a draft 
of the policy is not enough. Natural 
resources should be used in a way that 
they are not wasted and the policy 
should follow the SSF Guidelines. 
PANEL DISCUSSIONS 
Social Development, Employment 
and Decent Work for Responsible/
Sustainable Fisheries 
Caroline Bates, Officer-in-Charge, 
ILO, said oceans are resources for fish 
and sources of livelihood. In many 
countries, fishing is the only way of 
eking out a livelihood. So, decent 
working conditions for the fishing 
community are essential. She said that 
providing decent working conditions 
to the fishing community was part of 
ratification and implementation of the 
ILO conventions. However, Pakistan 
has not yet ratified the Work in Fishing 
Convention, 200 (No. 188). 
Saeed Baloch, Secretary General, 
PFF, said under the Sustainable 
Development Goals 2030, ILO discusses 
improvement of working conditions 
of the workers. However, fishermen 
have not been considered. The 
social development of fishworkers, 
including basic amenities of living, 
has not been provided for. Female 
workers should get equal wages and 
must not face harassment. He said the 
sustainable fisheries policy in Pakistan 
S S F  W O R K S H O P
GUL HASSAN
The National Workshop on the SSF Guidelines was held in Karachi, Pakistan, as part 
of the efforts to mobilize support for the implementation of the SSF Guidelines
62
SAMUDRA REPORT NO. 75
should also focus on these matters in 
the light of the SSF Guidelines. 
Khawer Parvez Awan, Director 
Inland Fisheries, Sindh, said until all 
stakeholders, including fishermen, 
boatowners and the government, 
work together, decent work would 
not become practical. He said the 
Sindh government fully supports the 
SSF Guidelines. 
Zulfiqar Shah, Co-director, Pakistan 
Institute of Labour Education and 
Research, said that work of fishermen 
is no more a decent work in the 
conditions they are currently working 
in. After the 18th amendment of the 
Constitution,  labour issues in Pakistan 
are to be sorted out by the labour 
department. He said that PFF model 
is effective. He urged FAO and ILO 
to push the Pakistan government 
towards the implementation of the 
SSF Guidelines. 
Tenure rights to land and water 
bodies, livelihoods and responsible/
sustainable fi sheries in light of national 
and international laws, especially 
the Voluntary Guidelines on the 
Responsible Governance of Tenure 
of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the 
context of National Food Security
Representatives from the 
following governmental and civil 
society organizations participated in 
the discussion: fishing community 
persons; the Fisheries Departments 
of Baluchistan, Sindh and Punjab 
provinces; Marine Fisheries, WWF-
Pakistan; IUCN and the Labour Adviser 
to the Chief Minister, Balochistan.
The current status of actions under 
relevant laws remains inadequate, 
missing or adverse as compared to 
those required to acknowledge and 
promote livelihoods of peasants, in 
general, and fishers, in particular, 
when compared to the Tenure 
Guidelines of Land, Fisheries and 
Forests. Fishers are even more 
insecurely placed than land-based 
peasants, though perhaps the latter 
are often more harshly treated by 
landowners and the state than are 
fishers. The SSF Guidelines could 
and should be used but they have not 
resulted in a Food Security Policy that 
is serious about eradicating hunger 
and malnutrition. Agrarian reforms 
that include redistribution of access 
to water and land have not been 
seriously reconsidered since 
the 1970s. In the face of current 
threats to tenure, compensation for 
voluntary displacement remains a 
distant hope for fishers—of which 
two examples are most odious: the 
continuing land and water grabs of 
the Defence Housing Authority, and 
forced dispossession of fishers by 
new housing and industrial schemes 
on the Sindh Coast such as the 
Zulfikarabad city scheme and the 
Special Economic Zones.
Natural and Man-made disasters and 
Climate change
Experts on environmental 
governance, representatives from 
the Meteorological Department, the 
National Institute of Oceanography, 
the Provincial Disaster Management 
Authority and others participated in 
the discussion. It was noted that 
climate change was not a sudden 
occurrence. Anthropogenic activities 
have increased carbon discharge 
or emissions. Developed countries 
are creating a fund that would give 
US$1 bn annually to the developing 
countries for the purpose of 
mitigation and adaptation to climate 
change. Natural disasters would be 
of short duration but they would 
be intense. As per the research 
Box
PFF•  has always played a major role in the abolition of illegal occupation of Rangers 
on the inland water bodies on the coastal belt of Sindh. However, this still needs to 
be implemented in its true sense for which PFF has been consistently advocating. 
As the feudal lords and various other infl uential people exploit the fi shing in inland 
waters, there is a need to gain support from legislation to make the inland waters 
immune from private contractors who exploit the poor fi shermen.  
Fishing communities remain aloof from developmental work. Several water bodies in • 
Punjab are auctioned off. 
Providing basic facilities of life to fi shermen has been a long-standing issue. No • 
benefi t has been provided by the government to the poor fi shermen. Rights-based 
social movements, NGOs and the work of civil society for the uplift of poor fi shermen 
remain neglected by the state authorities. 
The sea belongs to the small-scale poor fi shermen who deserve a good standard • 
of life. In order to meet European Union (EU) requirements, whole fi sheries were 
revamped without considering the adverse impacts on small-scale fi sher peoples. 
Around 1.5 mn people live along the coastal areas of Pakistan and while they • 
contribute to the nation’s gross domestic product, they suffer the most. Marine 
resources are at the bottom of the federal development agenda. 
R E P O R T
JANUARY 2017
63
conducted by IUCN, which was also 
endorsed by the Senate of Pakistan, 
sea intrusion will adversely affect 
the coast of Sindh by 2030 and 2060. 
It was suggested that the 
The adverse impacts of climate • 
change on fisheries must be taken 
into consideration while devising 
the policies related to the fishing 
profession. 
Degradation of mangrove forests • 
on the coast of Sindh is underway. 
Only 15 per cent of the plants 
are healthy, out of the total of 
80,000 acres. 
The frequency of cyclones, floods • 
and other disaster has increased 
on the coast of Sindh. As a result, 
the poor populations are subject 
to displacement. 
The Sindh coast, mainly because • 
of natural disasters and sea water 
intrusion, has been affected 
along with the local population. 
There is a rise of 1.7 mm in sea 
level annually. There are 17 
major creeks in the Indus 
Delta on the left bank and 
the right bank, starting from the 
Korangi creek from Karachi to the 
Pakistan-India border. 
According to revenue department • 
data, 132,000 acres of land have 
come under water in the Indus 
delta. The tidal link, instead of 
discharging the saline water of 
Sindh into the sea, is flowing in the 
reverse direction, and sea water is 
moving upwards through the river 
gateway. 
Protecting life and livelihoods: 
SSF Guidelines for legislation, policies 
and research for fi sheries and fi shing 
communities
Muhammad Ali Shah said the SSF 
Guidelines are an instrument of FAO. 
Around 200 mn fishermen in the 
world depend on fisheries, of which 
90 per cent of are small-scale 
fishermen. Their future is endangered. 
Now, the time has come for 
responsible fisheries. FAO has realized 
it and the issue of food security 
would be addressed through the 
SSF Guidelines. The goal cannot be 
achieved without the participation 
of fisher communities. The fisheries 
authorities of many countries have 
endorsed the SSF Guidelines.
A responsible fishery is not only 
the responsibility of the government, 
he said, but also of all other 
stakeholders. Participatory policies 
should be formed and the SSF 
Guidelines present an example of 
participatory guidelines. He sought 
a national commission on the 
implementation of the SSF Guidelines. 
He endorsed the Advisory Council 
suggested by the provincial minister. 
The Director General of Fisheries of 
all the four provinces must be part 
of it. Representatives of the fisheries 
sector and environmentalists must 
be part of it. The SSF Guidelines are 
meant for the whole country. 
Consultation meetings for Baluchistan 
and Sindh would soon be called. 
Way Forward
The participants of the workshop 
unanimously agreed on the formation 
of a committee for the implementation 
and legislation on the SSF Guidelines. 
The committee would communicate 
with the participants of the workshop 
and the legislators, in order to enact 
a law for the implementation of 
the SSF Guidelines under the local 
circumstances. The committee would 
write letters to the concerned people 
in this regard and the process of the 
implementation of the SSF Guidelines 
would be carried forward.                      
sites.google.com/site/ssfguidelines/
pakistan
Pakistan: Implementation of the 
Voluntary Guidelines for Securing 
Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries 
in the context of Food Security 
and Poverty Eradication 
(SSF Guidelines)
For more
S S F  W O R K S H O P


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