Why legal and policy analysis?

Since the adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) in 2014, a big question remains about whether the SSF Guidelines are being implemented, how and to what outcomes. The earlier study to gauge where countries were, with respect to the readiness to implement this instrument, revealed that, only a handful of countries had necessary conditions to take action, while the majority still needed to build the required capacity and the public awareness to support the implementation. The SSF Guidelines should not be left aside for no apparent reason, and doing so is not only a missed opportunity, but a step backwards in respect of the advancements already made. This book is another wake-up call to countries around the world and especially to the developing countries whose millions of livelihoods depend on small-scale fisheries, to react to the need of implementing the SSF Guidelines in their own jurisdictions. The purpose of this book is to encourage countries to take the required steps in appraising the extent to which the current fisheries legislation and policies are applicable for small-scale fisheries governance, and in expanding this analysis to other instruments that are not fisheries-specific, but which also provide fundamental rights and duties of small-scale fishers, including the countries’ Constitutions. Such steps can begin with an evaluation of relevant legal and policy instruments against the principles and recommendations of the SSF Guidelines, on the basis of which it is possible to determine what needs to be done to facilitate and ensure the SSF Guidelines implementation for sustainable small-scale fisheries.