The issue
"Globalization", a term used abundantly since
the beginning of the 1990s has progressively
developed since World War Two. It is recogniszed
through a number of trends such as growing economic
integration and liberalisation; trade deregulation;
convergence of macroeconomic policies; modification
of the role and concept of nation state;
proliferation of supranational agreements and
regulatory bodies; and globalization of information
systems. These trends are associated with both
positive and negative impacts on human well-being,
the use and conservation of the environment, equity
within countries and between developing and
developed countries, participation and democratic
decision-making, food security, poverty alleviation
and others. Some hold very strong views that
globalization has resulted in increasing inequity
and poverty; reduced and diluted responsibility of
capital owners to national and local communities
dislocating local employment systems; and increased
threats to sustainability of natural resources use
where effective management measures are not being
put in place. Others stress the positive effects of
globalization by, e.g. removing stumbling blocks of
development; accelerating necessary reforms;
promoting strategic thinking; diluting the power of
sectarian interests; and spreading of environmental
awareness through global information systems such
as Internet, etc,
While globalization is clearly not an issue
specific to fisheries, there are very few aspects
of fisheries and aquaculture that are not affected
i.e. through, inter alia,
- the expansion of long-range fleets until the
end of the 1980s;
- the increased market flows of fish and
fishery products from the developing to the
developed world and vice versa since the mid
1970s;
- the transfers of technology and fishing
capacity from the developed to the developing
countries during the same period,
- through modernization of fish capture and
processing technologies and introduction of more
efficient means of production;
- vastly improved and expanded information
flow on all aspects of fisheries including
markets and prices;
- efforts to further liberalize trade in fish
and fishery product with potential impact on
food security in exporting countries;
- pressure to reduce or eliminate
subsidies;
- increased awareness of environmental
impacts;
- demands for decentralisation of and
participation in decision-making;
- identification of clear property or use
rights;
- new international instruments not specific
to fisheries (e.g. WTO agreements, Convention on
Biological Diversity)
- as well as unilaterally adopted policies on
deregulation and structural adjustment of
national economies that affect, inter
alia, the fisheries sector.
Globalization may have a number of positive or
negative effects on the economic, social and
nutritional roles and performance of the fisheries
sector.
Positive impacts include:
- access to and diversification of overseas
markets with a resulting increase in incomes in
the fisheries sector, including the artisanal
sector;
- increase in intra-regional trade;
- access to technological improvements;
- increased demand for fish and fishery
products because of higher per capita income and
population growth;;
- increase in the contribution of the
fisheries sector to foreign currency earnings
and to GDP through added value of fishery
products;
- presence in local markets of improved
quality fish products;
- increased competitiveness in international
markets of some local fishing companies through
better organisation of production and management
as well as an overall increase of fishers'
well-being provided that increased wealth is
equitably distributed.
Negative impacts include:
- increased production costs to meet quality
and sanitation standards applicable in main
foreign markets;
- higher prices for tradable fish products in
domestic markets and potential reduction of fish
supply from local fisheries to domestic
markets;
- increased pressure on fully or overexploited
fish stocks and potential risk of depletion if
adequate management systems are not in
place;
- increasing impact of indirect effects of
globalization that add additional pressures to
fish stocks;
- erosion of decision-making at various levels
in the absence of adequate reforms in
governance;
- difficulties to meet scales of production
needed to compete in a global environment by
small countries, especially small island
developing states as well as increase of poverty
in fishing communities in the absence of an
equitable distribution of benefits.
While there are different views on the pros and
cons of globalization, there is little doubt that
the ongoing processes will continue and that there
is a need to carefully study its impact on the
fishery sector and economy at large. This is all
the more necessary in order to identify appropriate
policies and measures, which can help the fishery
sector to successfully adjust to new global
developments, derive the maximum benefit and
mitigate negative effects.
FAO studies indicate that the fishery sectors of
many countries in Asia and the Pacific have derived
benefits and continue to benefit from
globalization. These benefits include improved
quality and better access of their fishery products
to markets in other countries within and outside of
Asia and the Pacific; increased export earnings;
greater exchange of technology; increased
productivity and efficiency and better supply of
fish products to local populations through
liberalisation of imports. Negative effects of
globalization on fisheries in Asia and the Pacific
were also identified in the form of increased
market competition between the small-scale
fisheries sector products and imported low priced
fish products. The studies also identified changes
in the structure of demand for fishery products,
incorporation of new technologies and changes in
the marketing and distribution systems as important
factors of change of the fishery sector.
Possible solutions
The effects on fisheries of globalization and
modifications of the global socio-economic context
are not always directly manageable from within the
sector or even at national level. Several of the
changes and their effects can only be addressed
globally, through international co-operation, with
the view to, inter alia:
- expand market access for all exports from
developing countries, including through further
reduction of tariffs;
- reduce agricultural protectionism in
high-income countries;
- enhance the capacity of the poorest
countries to influence the global debate,
supporting inter alia, their
participation in international trade
negotiations on tariffs; Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS); Technical Barriers
to Trade (TBT); rules of origin (traceability)
and food security to reduce their probability to
become barriers to trade.
- Assist exporting developing nations, in line
with the directives and guidelines of WTO, in
attaining and maintaining compliance with the
rules and regulations of the global marketplace,
in particular in the areas of quality assurance
and technology. Assistance from importing
countries would be particularly important;
- facilitate the access of developing
countries to best technology;
- ensure that trade liberalisation works most
effectively for the poor.
- promote active exchange of information
between countries and within sectors to raise
awareness about needs and requirements of the
market, available technology, training and
credit.
- Development of competitive products in terms
of price, quality, delivery, duties,
regulations, preferences, currencies,
reputations, etc., meeting or better exceeding
internationally agreed standards.
- Establishment of an adequate governance, in
the form of legal frameworks as well as
functioning and stable institutions.
All of these would have repercussions on
fisheries and the evolution of key issues such as
international transfer of fishing capacity, illegal
fishing and flags of convenience, management of
global commons, especially the marine environment
and high seas fisheries, biosafety and others. More
details on these areas can be found elsewhere on
this CD. Many other changes brought about by
globalization need adjustments in national
fisheries policies in order to ensure that full
advantage is being taken of these developments for
economic growth, food security and poverty
alleviation.
More specifically, in fisheries, potential
benefits from globalization may only be realized
and sustained (and potential drawbacks mitigated)
if governments introduce appropriate policies and
measures to:
- properly manage, conserve and rehabilitate
fisheries resources and coastal environments to
ensure that globalization does not exacerbate
the overexploitation of natural resources,
increasing damage to the coastal environment and
social conflicts.
- protect specifically the small-scale and
traditional fishery sector through technical
assistance, training, investment support, fiscal
measures, and economic incentives.
- ensure that fisheries sector meets the
requirements of the global market place,
particularly in terms of quality, through
improved information flows to and from the
communities and producers, investment and
training.
- promote partnerships between fish exporters
or associations of exporters in developing
countries and distribution centres in importing
countries.
- promote fish imports by fair trade
organisations assisting producer associations in
complying with the required criteria.
- improve the artisanal sector (e.g.
conditions of work and infrastructure; roads and
communications networks; processing and trading
establishments; and fish inspection
services).
Action taken
All of the actions mentioned above are being
implemented more or less actively in one way or
another, but often with insufficient means and
capacity. The international community is
increasingly engaged in assisting countries that
are lagging behind, although several action groups
consider that not enough is done for those
countries and communities. Much effort has been
made by many countries to strengthen their fish
inspection services and upgrade their production
systems in order to comply with the sanitary
requirements, in particular with the HACCP
approach. Importing countries have given assistance
to developing countries to reach and maintain
compliance with required market standards but more
is needed.
However, most governments are still grappling
with the issue and attempting to forecast the
consequence of the changes as well as the action to
be taken to benefit from the positive ones while
minimising and mitigating the negative ones.
Between 1999 and 2000, FAO, organized workshops on
the effects of globalization and deregulation on
marine capture fisheries in Asia and the Pacific,
and in the Caribbean. A Caribbean Fisheries Agenda
on globalization (CFAG) has been formulated,
identifying issues and a political strategy and
plan of action that are presently implemented. FAO
is also presently implementing a major
umbrella-training programme on the issue for
developing member countries. Assistance is provided
for the implementation of the Uruguay round
agreements and in the preparations for the next
round of multilateral trade negotiations.
FAO is also active in a range of other areas
discussed elsewhere on this CD that seek to avoid
or mitigate negative impacts of globalization and
to maximize the benefits countries derive from it.
These include assistance towards the implementation
of the various international agreements including
the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and
the UN Fish Stocks Agreement as well as the various
international plans of action (e.g. on management
of fishing capacity, prevention of illegal,
unreported and unregulated fisheries).
Outlook
There can be little doubt that the process will
continue. Countries and communities will
increasingly become part of global relationships
and be subject to global market forces. So also the
fisheries sector will continue to be effected. For
those deriving a livelihood in fisheries, the issue
is whether national and local governments will have
the required capacity and capability of taking full
advantage of the opportunities offered by such
closer integration while fostering cultural
identity, maintaining social balance and political
control, and avoid increasing disparities in wealth
and well-being. These are the challenges faced by
the international community, governments and civil
society and it is too early to make predictions on
how well they will face up to them, but much will
depend on initiatives taken by fishery dependent
communities.
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