Fisheries Link Land Rights to Water Access

Why this is here: The article highlights “Acuatorio,” a term used to understand the “amphibious territorialities” of communities living in spaces where land and water are inseparable.

Small-scale fisheries communities in Latin America and the Caribbean connect territorial rights to both land and water. These groups view coastal and inland waterways as essential to their food security, culture, and daily life. They introduce concepts like “Maritorio” and “Acuatorio” to recognize these areas as spaces shaped by collective use and spiritual connection, not just resource extraction.

The article explains that protecting fisheries requires considering entire aquatic ecosystems—rivers, lagoons, and wetlands—as unified land-water territories. It argues the UNDROP’s guarantee of land and resources should extend to these aquatic environments.

Currently, these territories face threats from tourism, energy projects, aquaculture, and mining, described as “Ocean Grabbing.” Conservation efforts that exclude local communities also pose a risk. The piece suggests UNDROP, alongside the SSF Guidelines, can empower fishing communities as ecosystem guardians, but acknowledges further work is needed to define how these guidelines will be implemented.