A/HRC/55/49 I. Introduction A. Overfishing, climate change, and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic 1. Just as there is no life without water, there is no life for millions of people in coastal and riparian communities without small-scale fishers and fish workers. The full enjoyment of human rights by small-scale fishers and fish workers is therefore a necessary precondition for the realization of the right to food by everyone. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur focuses on small-scale fishers, fish workers and Indigenous Peoples reliant on fishing, because they are on the front lines of climate change. He thanks States, members of civil society and experts for their inputs and consultations. The report is built upon and advances the work done by previous mandate holders and in the context of the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture.1 2. Small-scale fishers have been warning governments about the dangers of overfishing since at least the 1860s. For over a century and half since then, small-scale fishers’ ecological concerns have been ignored, as large-scale fishing has increased in mechanization and capacity, harvesting at rates faster than the stock could rebuild. Governments were blinded by large profits and assumed that fish stocks would always be at abundant levels.2 3. In the past 50 years, overfishing tripled; today, one third of the world’s assessed fisheries are currently pushed beyond their biological limits. Meanwhile, 60 per cent of the world’s fisheries are being fished at capacity. The global biomass of large predatory fish targeted by fisheries has fallen by two thirds over the past century. One third of freshwater fish are threatened with extinction owing to overexploitation, pollution and habitat destruction. 3 Overfishing not only threatens the environment but also undermines the food security and livelihood of billions of people. 4. Moreover, among food systems, small-scale fisheries are some of the most vulnerable to climate change. 4 Members of coastal communities and Indigenous Peoples on coasts, especially in the Arctic and on small islands, have been among the first people to experience the disruption and violence wrought by climate change. 5. The COVID-19 pandemic hit the fishing sector hard. Travel restrictions meant that fishers were unable to get their catch to markets and consumers, leading to a decline in demand and prices. The closure of ice-storage facilities, which were not considered essential services, made it impossible for fishers to preserve their catch. Many fishers were thus forced to “dump” their catch back into the sea. 6. During the pandemic, many workers in the processing, harvesting and marketing industries lost their jobs. Moreover, working on fishing vessels and in post-harvest handling, packaging and processing increased risks of virus transmission and outbreaks of COVID-19 because of close quarters; lack of regular supplies, including personal protective equipment; and intermittent access to medical care. Immediately after the imposition of the lockdowns, many migrant fish workers were stranded, often having to survive without any relief or assistance from the government. The pandemic has had a devastating impact on women fish processors and vendors, particularly women heads of household, who represent the majority of this workforce. This led to greater declines in women’s employment and increased rates of gender-based violence. With closed schools and strained health systems, women’s and girls’ unpaid care and domestic work intensified.5 1 2 3 4 5 2 See A/59/385, A/67/268, A/73/164 and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022: Final Report (Rome, 2023). Mark Kurlanksy, World Without Fish (New York, Workman Publishing, 2011). A/76/179, para. 24; see also https://www.fao.org/3/cc0461en/online/sofia/2022/status-of-fisheryresources.html. FAO, Impacts of Climate Change on Fisheries and Aquaculture (Rome, 2018). FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022: Towards Blue Transformation (Rome, 2022), pp. 197 and 209. See also https://www.ilo.org/asia/publications/issue- GE.23-26071