Discussions about protecting the rights of small-scale Pacific fishers have revealed conflicts between customary and statutory laws.
Fishing vessels, both modern and traditional, in the Madang lagoon, Papua New Guinea; part of the planned Pacific Marine Industrial Zone. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
A virtual talanoa hosted by the Pacific Community exposed how constitutional rights of the individual could be at odds with indigenous practices.
Last week's meeting included representatives from the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga.
Pacific Community (SPC) Legal Adviser Ariella D'Andrea said member countries were making progress in recognising small-scale fishers' rights.
But she said there were further opportunites to adopt legislation that enabled both individual and community rights.
The discussions were based around the findings of a recent legal study on human rights in Pacific coastal fisheries and aquaculture.
The study concluded that, while traditional and customary practices are paramount to the sustainable management of vulnerable coastal fisheries, challenges still exist in protecting the rights of small-scale fishers in the Pacific.
The study looked into the right of access to the sea, the right to participate in decision making by all stakeholders, the right to a healthy environment, the right to non-discrimination and gender equality, and the right to safe and decent work.
SPC human rights specialist Josephine Kalsuak added that "a human rights-based approach to coastal fisheries and aquaculture is crucial to promote the participation of fishers in decision-making".