The Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) has launched the GFCM SSF University Programme for 2021, an initiative brought about by the ‘Friends of Small-Scale Fisheries’ (Friends of SSF) network in the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean.
LIFE is a founding member of the Friends of SSF which aims to promote cooperation between countries in the region and plays an integral role in the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea (RPOA-SSF), launched in 2018.
Small-scale fisheries in the region employ 127,000 workers with a fleet of 71,400 vessels. The total catch from these fisheries is 175,000 tonnes worth US$1.04 billion.
The 2021 SSF Forum programme comprises five courses aligned with the main themes of the RPOA-SSF on topics such as promoting strong and innovative SSF value chains (May – July 2021), decent work and social protection (September 2021), participatory management processes (October 2021), collaboration between small-scale fishers and scientists (November 2021) and small-scale fishers (December 2021).
Each course will consist of a series of workshops held online owing to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The SSF Forum is designed for everyone in the sector, in particular small-scale fishers, fish workers and SSF organisation representatives throughout the Mediterranean and the Black Sea region.
