Other Information
Date: November, 2017
Pages: 28-29
Event: Proceedings of the Seventy Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Merida, Yucatan
Country: México
Abstract
The quest for successful partnerships within the fisheries sector is increasing with the trend towards more participatory forms of governance and the ecosystem approach to fisheries. Global instruments such as the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (the SSF Guidelines), and regional initiatives such as the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem + Project (2015 - 2020), encourage such partner-ships. Yet, there are practical perils in public sector, NGO or academic projects that include partnerships with fisherfolk organizations, all sides being at risk. These perils affect, and need to be considered by, all sides in the contexts of knowledge, learning, and adaptive capacity. It would be naive of the parties to do otherwise. However, this is what often happens, especially with the intangibles rather than operational logistics, funding or technical content. Untested assumptions are made on all sides about information, skills, relationships, ethics, values, beliefs, attitudes, and more that cannot be easily assessed in advance of an agreement to partner. This communication offers a perspective on the perils of partnership. It draws upon the experiences of applied research with a long history of partnering with fisherfolk and their organizations in projects.