Blue Genes: Sharing and Conserving the World's Aquatic Biodiversity

238 Pages·2007·1.89 MB·English

Blue Genes: Sharing and Conserving
the World’s Aquatic Biodiversity
David Greer and Brian Harvey
London (cid:127)Sterling, VA
International Development Research Centre
Ottawa (cid:127)Cairo (cid:127)Dakar (cid:127)Montevideo (cid:127)Nairobi (cid:127)New Delhi (cid:127)Singapore
First published in the UK, USA and Canada in 2004
by Earthscan and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Copyright © David Greer and Brian Harvey, 2004
All rights reserved
ISBN: 1–84407–106–5 paperback
1–84407–105–7 hardback
Typesetting by Saxon Graphics, Derby, UK
Printed and bound in the UK by Cromwell Press, Trowbridge
Cover design by Gillian Harvey
For a full list of publications please contact:
Earthscan
8–12 Camden High Street
London, NW1 0JH, UK
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.earthscan.co.uk
22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166–2012, USA
Earthscan publishes in association with WWF-UK and the International Institute for Environment
and Development
International Development Research Centre
PO Box 8500, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1G 3H9
[email protected]/www.idrc.ca
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Greer, David (David Seton)
Blue genes: sharing and conserving the world’s aquatic biodiversity / David Greer and Brian Harvey
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–84407–106–5 (pbk.) – ISBN 1–84407–105–7 (hardback)
1. Aquatic genetic resources conservation–Government policy. 2. Aquatic genetic
resources–Economic aspects. I. Harvey, Brian J. II. Title.
QH75.G7175 2004
333.95’16’0916–dc22
2003022768
Printed on elemental chlorine-free paper
Contents
List of Photographs, Figures and Boxes vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations xii
Overview 1
A Note on the Case Studies 15
1 The Gene Rush: Finding New Value in Aquatic Biodiversity 23
Why is genetic diversity so important? 24
The blue revolution: Unlocking the secrets of aquatic genetic resources 29
Expanding commercial uses for aquatic genetic resources 32
Indigenous views on valuing nature 53
Case study 1. The law of unintended consequences: Conserving the
ornamental fish industry in Barcelos, Brazil 54
2 Managing Aquatic Genetic Resources: Tools and Policy Gaps 61
Conserving aquatic genetic diversity – still a new idea for fisheries
management 62
Banking blue genes: Collections of aquatic genetic resources 66
Access to aquatic genetic resources collections 71
Managing aquatic genetic resources: Filling the policy vacuum 75
Global initiatives for improved management of aquatic biodiversity 82
Case study 2. No policy, no access? A salmon farmer’s frustrated
efforts to collect genetically pure broodstock 84
3 Whose to Share? Ownership and Control of Aquatic Resources 89
Ownership of aquatic genetic resources: Agreements and claims 91
The price of invention: Intellectual property law and aquatic genetic
resources 98
Who owns traditional knowledge? 102
Biopiracy: Plain dealing or patent theft? 105
Case study 3. An indigenous community says no: Negotiating access
to charr broodstock in northern Canada 110
4 Thinking Locally: Rights of Indigenous and Local Communities 113
Traditional community practices and biodiversity conservation 114
Indigenous views on the collection and use of aquatic genetic
resources: A workshop in Canada 121
vi BLUE GENES
The knowledge knot: Traditional knowledge and access to aquatic
genetic resources 127
No knowledge, no benefits? The shortcomings of Article 8(j) 134
Case study 4. Genetic improvement of farmed tilapia: Lessons from the
GIFT project 135
5 Acting Globally: National Laws on Access to Aquatic
Resources 143
The collector’s conundrum: What’s the law? 144
Fine-tuning the CBD: The Bonn Guidelines 147
National and regional approaches to access laws 149
Comparative analysis: How the new laws deal with access to genetic
resources in communities 151
Making benefit sharing work: Responsibilities of industrial countries 161
Using fisheries certification to support access laws 163
Case study 5. Community rights vs research chill: The Philippine
experience with access and benefit-sharing legislation 166
6 Results that Count: Meaningful Benefits for Fishing Communities 179
Blue gold or fools’ gold? Prospects for benefit sharing 180
Sharing benefits fairly with communities 183
A handout or a hand up? Royalties vs non-monetary benefits 186
Linking sustainable livelihoods to conservation 189
Setting the stage for effective negotiations 195
Case study 6. Shaping negotiation tools: A marine bioprospecting
agreement in Fiji 196
7 Putting Principles into Practice 201
Access and benefit-sharing laws: A work in slow progress 202
Aquatic biodiversity management: Filling policy gaps 203
The four ‘policy pillars’ of ABS legislation 208
A checklist for designing access and benefit-sharing policies 211
Notes 213
References 215
Index 227
List of Photographs, Figures and
Boxes
PHOTOGRAPHS
Cardinal tetra fisherman, Rio Negro, Brazil 1
Salmon gene banking in bear country, British Columbia 23
Returning a dourado to the Taquari River after DNA sampling, Coxim,
Brazil 61
Farmed catfish, Brazil 89
Sorting ornamental fish after the night’s catch, Rio Negro, Brazil 113
Farmed Atlantic salmon broodstock, British Columbia 143
Fishing family with traditional fish trap, Marituba wetlands, Brazil 179
Artisanal fisherman and his family, Sao Francisco River, Brazil 201
FIGURE
7.1 The policy foundation for access and benefit-sharing legislation 208
BOXES
1.1 Lost Stocks: The Declining Genetic Variability of Pacific Salmon 28
1.2 What Is the Difference Between Biological and Genetic Resources? 31
1.3 Breeding Fish 35
1.4 Collecting Aquatic Genetic Resources: A Primer for Policy Makers 37
1.5 Genetic Modification: Better Fish or Foul Play? 40
1.6 Cone Snails: Potent Painkillers in Pretty Shells 48
1.7 Underwater Chemical Warfare and the Rise of Genetic Databases 48
1.8 Medicinal Uses of Aquatic Plants and Animals 52
2.1 Protecting the Genetic Diversity of Pacific Salmon 64
2.2 The Value of Science 81
3.1 Plant Precedents on Sharing Genetic Resources: The International
Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture 97
3.2 The Wapishana Go to Court: The Case of the Fish Killing Plant 103
3.3 Biopiracy Debates in Brazil 108
viii BLUE GENES
4.1 Managing Fisheries Abundance: Traditions of the Nuu-chah-nulth in
British Columbia 115
5.1 Comparing Laws: Defining the Scope 152
5.2 Comparing Laws: Community Right to Consent 154
5.3 Comparing Laws: Academic vs Commercial Uses 158
5.4 Comparing Laws: Sharing Benefits with Indigenous and Local
Communities 160
Preface
The impact of biotechnology can be compared to that of the Industrial Revolution
two centuries ago. Nowhere is this more evident than in the food and drug indus-
tries. Genetic modification of crops has become so commonplace that a wide
variety of products in an average supermarket now contains ingredients produced
or affected by genetic engineering. The development of many pharmaceutical
products results from biotechnological manipulation of the genetic codes for
natural plant compounds.
The international trade in genetic resources is significant. The global market for
pharmaceuticals alone is more than US$300 billion a year. Like the Industrial
Revolution, the biotechnology revolution has created a demand by corporations
for access to the resources of southern countries – with the difference that genetic
resources (genetic material containing the fundamental units of heredity) rather
than natural resources (timber, minerals, fish) are the prize today. For their part,
countries providing genetic resources haven’t forgotten the price paid by many
southern countries during and before the Industrial Revolution: colonization by
European countries. Control over access to plant genetic resources and sharing in
the benefits from their use are extraordinarily sensitive issues.
In the rush to develop global policies that deal with access to genetic resources,
aquatic animals and plants have largely been overlooked. International agreements
such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Agreement on
Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) have been largely
driven by agricultural and pharmaceutical agendas, and have tended to treat
aquatic matters as an afterthought. The same trend appears to be occurring in the
development of national strategies for biodiversity management and of laws regu-
lating access to genetic resources.
Plant genetic resources have received far more press than aquatic ones for good
reason: scientific understanding and commercial use of aquatic genetic resources
lag decades behind their plant counterparts. But this situation is changing fast.
Although industrial-scale aquaculture was virtually unknown 30 years ago, it’s
now predicted that more than 40 per cent of global food fish production will come
from farms by 2020. Similarly, bioprospecting for marine organisms with value for
pharmaceutical or industrial applications lags far behind terrestrial bioprospecting
– but the quest for the holy grail of a cancer cure is a powerful incentive for
increased activity. Meanwhile, the natural capital of aquatic genetic diversity is
rapidly being eroded by overfishing and development, with species disappearing
before they are even known to humans.
While it is true that certain aspects of biodiversity and genetic resources policy
can apply equally to plants or fish, significant differences need to be taken into
account as well. For example, whereas seed companies can collect their genetic
x BLUE GENES
resources from international gene banks, fish farmers generally rely on wild popu-
lations to replenish their broodstock. The very different nature of aquatic genetic
resources (for example, hidden, migratory, publicly accessible) raises ownership
issues that may be different from those known to the plant world. Communities in
the areas where aquatic genetic resources are likely to be collected may have no
traditional knowledge that is useful to fish farmers or pharmaceutical companies –
yet some countries’ laws make the sharing of useful traditional knowledge a
prerequisite for a community’s right to benefit from providing access to genetic
resources.
These and many other distinctions between plant and aquatic genetic resources
deserve consideration by policy makers. In addition, the vacuum in policies for the
management and conservation of aquatic biodiversity needs to be addressed before
countries begin to contemplate putting access regulations in place. This book
offers an analysis of policy gaps and proposes approaches at the international,
national and community levels to providing a foundation for the conservation and
sharing of aquatic biodiversity.
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Blue Genesis dedicated to the memory of Chusa Gines, who worked indefatigably
to promote the sustainable use of genetic resources from the developing world.
Chusa agreed with us that aquatic genetic resources are as important as terrestrial
ones, and she was a key figure in promoting and obtaining IDRC approval for the
Blue Genesproject. Chusa died in a plane crash in the Andes in 2002.
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our thanks to the International Development Research
Centre in Ottawa for funding the research and writing of this book.
Every book needs a believer. Blue Genescould not have been completed without
the unfailing support, encouragement and patience of IDRC’s Brian Davy.
Thanks, Brian.
Many people were generous in providing the information and assistance we
needed to develop the case studies that illuminate the themes addressed by Blue
Genes. We would particularly like to thank the following: William Aalsbersberg,
University of the South Pacific; Ephraim Batungbacal, Tambuyog Development
Center; Ning Labbish Chao, Universidade do Amazonas; Gisela Concepcion and
Lourdes Cruz, Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines; Elenita
Dano, South East Asian Regional Institute for Community Education; Timothy
Fleming, Icy Waters Ltd; Modadugu Gupta, World Fish Center; Sandy Johnson,
Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Clarissa Marte, South East Asia Fisheries
Development Center; Jiji Rodriguez, GIFT Foundation; Michael Tlusty and Scott
Dowd, New England Aquarium; and Bill Vernon, Creative Salmon Ltd.
Others who provided invaluable information and advice include Yogi
Carolsfeld, World Fisheries Trust; Keith Davenport, Ornamental Aquatic Trade
Association; Fred Fortier, Shuswap Nation Fisheries Commission; Rainer Froese,
World Fish Center; Lyle Glowka; Michael Halewood, Genetic Resources Policy
Initiative; Paul Holthus, Marine Aquarium International; Steven King, Shaman
Pharmaceuticals; Heather MacAndrew; Don McAllister, Ocean Voice
International; Bob McFetridge, Canadian Biodiversity Convention Office; Jeff
McNeely, IUCN; Anna Rosa Martinez Prat; Roger Pullin, formerly with the
World Fish Center; Calvin Sandborn; Krystyna Swiderska, International Institute
for Environment and Development; and Amanda Vincent, Project Seahorse.
xii BLUE GENES
We are also grateful to the participants of a workshop that we organized in
British Columbia to discuss indigenous peoples’ views on the use and sharing of
aquatic genetic resources: Dennis Ableson, Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council; Robert
Fritzchse, Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs; Crystal Ross and Mark Bowler of the Haisla
Nation Fisheries Commission; Glenn Barner, Nisga’a Tribal Council Fisheries
Program; Dave Moore, Shuswap Nation Fisheries Commission; Carl Sidney,
Yukon Salmon Committee; Juanita Sidney, Teslin-Tlingit Fisheries Program; and
Joey Amos and Burton Ayles, Northwest Territories Fisheries Joint Management
Commission.
We are indebted to Rob West, Ruth Mayo, Jennifer Poole and Camille
Adamson of James & James/Earthscan and to Bill Carman of IDRC for their
efforts in bringing Blue Genes to publication, and to Carmen Ross of World
Fisheries Trust for formatting several drafts of the book.
David Greer
Brian Harvey