Systemic approach and sustainability

The way fishermen act is under the influence of the groups they interact with, so the success of each action depends on a positive attitude by all the actors involved. Therefore, it is essential to promote empathy between artisanal fishermen and other groups like politicians, academics or consumers.

This is the reason why one of Fundación Lonxanet’s goals is to dignify the fishermen’s work and the cultural heritage related to artisanal fishing before the whole of society. The aim is to publicise, raise awareness and convey to society the profession of artisanal fishermen and their contribution to a fairer and more sustainable world.

The oceans are the main source of income for fishermen, so healthy and well-balanced seas are vital to fishing activities. The fisherman is a key actor to lead the process to protect marine resources, due to his proximity and knowledge about the sea. Therefore, this environmental pillar aims to work on social awareness, promote the collective interest and foster a sustainable development of marine areas and resources.

To accomplish this goal, Fundación Lonxanet produced an innovative methodology to create and manage the co-managed Marine Protected Areas of Fishing Interest. The main innovation of the model for the co-managed Marine Protected Areas of Fishing Interest is its participative approach, applied in all the design, creation and management phases. In this sense, it is the fishermen themselves who promote the creation of Marine Protected Areas, that -once formalised- are equally co-managed by the public administration and artisanal fishermen.

Fundación Lonxanet considers artisanal fishermen’s participation essential in the management of co-managed Marine Protected Areas of Fishing Interest, since they contribute to the design of the proposals with their traditional environmental knowledge, they allow the establishment of allies with other actors and civil organisations, and their active collaboration ensures respect for the co-managed Marine Protected Areas of Fishing Interest once the proposal is implemented.

Conditioned by an economic system that foments social inequality, the artisanal fisherman finds himself in a fragile economic situation. For this reason, solving the problem of the lack of income in the first place is a key step in the efforts of Fundación Lonxanet.

The aim of the economic pillar in Fundación Lonxanet’s intervention is to contribute in highlighting artisanal fishing as a sustainable and responsible productive system. Thus, we intervene by promoting direct marketing of products from sustainable fisheries, improving traceability and management of the value chain and developing alternative or complementary systems of income generation for the fishing communities (diversification of fisheries).

The participation of artisanal fishermen in the public sphere is essential for the enhancement of fishing activity in society. Furthermore, their participation helps to change the perception in all sectors, considering them legitimate players in the construction of a more sustainable world.

Fomenting the culture of citizens’ participation among artisanal fishermen is an objective of the foundation and which transverses to all of the organisation’s activities. At the end of the day, we are trying to encourage artisanal fishermen to become active citizens and a key element in political discussions related to marine resources management, the conservation of the marine environment and in local and global governance processes.