Third international conference strengthens alliances among Indigenous Peoples and advances community-led action in fisheries and ocean governance.
GAIGIRGORDUB, GUNAYALA, PANAMA — Indigenous fishers, traditional authorities, knowledge holders, elders, women and youth from across North, Central and South America, the Caribbean and the Pacific are gathering in Gunayala from August 6–9 for the Third International Conference of Indigenous Peoples Engaged in Small-Scale and Subsistence Fisheries.
Co-organized by the Guna General Congress, the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), and the Kuna Youth Movement, the conference brings together over 70 Indigenous representatives to exchange experiences, strengthen alliances and develop coordinated strategies for defending fisheries, aquatic territories, food systems and the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The gathering continues a process advanced through earlier international Indigenous fisheries conferences in 2013 and 2017. It also reflects the long-standing relationship between the Guna People and IITC, built through solidarity, advocacy, trust and shared struggle.
| “For Indigenous Peoples, waters are not simply resources or commodities. Oceans, rivers, lakes, wetlands and coastlines are living relatives. They carry our creation stories, sustain our ceremonies, feed our families and connect one generation to the next,” said Roberto Múkaro Agüeibaná Borrero, IITC Associate Director and Kasike of the Guainía Taíno Tribe of Borikén. “When our Peoples stand together, our individual voices become a collective force.” |
Indigenous rights, knowledge and leadership at the center
Conference discussions center the sacred relationships Indigenous Peoples maintain with oceans, seas, rivers, ice, wetlands and coastal ecosystems. Delegates are sharing creation stories, traditional knowledge, subsistence practices, customary governance practices and community responses to threats affecting their territories, livelihoods, and rights defenders.
Those threats include criminalization of rights defenders, industrial fishing, trawling, industrial aquaculture, extractive industries, pollution from plastics and agrochemicals, climate change, coastal development, tourism, militarization, the privatization of marine and coastal commons, and conservation measures imposed without the participation or free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples.
Participants are also examining opportunities and challenges within international policy processes, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organization Committee on Fisheries, the Committee on World Food Security, United Nations ocean processes, the agreement on marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, and international work addressing plastics, mercury and climate change.
The Guna General Congress is represented at the conference by Sagladummagan Lorenzo González and Celio De León, together with Domitilio Morris, Sagladummad of the General Congress of Culture. They are joined by secretaries, Bundorgan women’s representatives, the Youth Congress, secretariat coordinators and delegations from various communities.
| “Fishing remains a fundamental part of daily life in our communities,” said Sagladummagan Lorenzo González during the opening ceremonies. “At this gathering, participants will address the care and stewardship of other marine resources, including lobster and other species currently being taken from our seas.” |
From community waters to international action
The four-day program includes cultural exchanges, testimonies of community struggle and restoration, panels on threats to marine and coastal commons, discussions of international mechanisms, and a general debate on political advocacy and coordination among Indigenous fisher Peoples. Participants are expected to adopt final recommendations to guide collective action and strengthen Indigenous participation in fisheries, ocean, biodiversity, climate and food-policy processes.
The conference also emphasizes the participation of women and youth and the transmission of knowledge between generations. Its expected outcomes include a stronger international network of Indigenous Peoples engaged in small-scale and subsistence fisheries, a shared assessment of emerging threats and successful community responses, and coordinated advocacy positions grounded in Indigenous rights and self-determined priorities.
“The defense of Indigenous fisheries is inseparable from the defense of Indigenous Peoples themselves,” Borrero said in his opening remarks. “To protect the waters is to protect life. To defend food sovereignty is to defend dignity. To pass traditional knowledge to our children is to ensure that our Peoples will continue.”
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About the International Indian Treaty Council
The International Indian Treaty Council is an Indigenous organization working for the sovereignty and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples and for the recognition and protection of Indigenous rights, treaties, traditional cultures and sacred lands and waters.
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INDIGENOUS FISHERS GATHER IN GUNAYALA TO DEFEND WATERS, FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND COLLECTIVE RIGHTS
Third international conference strengthens alliances among Indigenous Peoples and advances community-led action in fisheries and ocean governance.
GAIGIRGORDUB, GUNAYALA, PANAMA — Indigenous fishers, traditional authorities, knowledge holders, elders, women and youth from across North, Central and South America, the Caribbean and the Pacific are gathering in Gunayala from August 6–9 for the Third International Conference of Indigenous Peoples Engaged in Small-Scale and Subsistence Fisheries.
Co-organized by the Guna General Congress, the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), and the Kuna Youth Movement, the conference brings together over 70 Indigenous representatives to exchange experiences, strengthen alliances and develop coordinated strategies for defending fisheries, aquatic territories, food systems and the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The gathering continues a process advanced through earlier international Indigenous fisheries conferences in 2013 and 2017. It also reflects the long-standing relationship between the Guna People and IITC, built through solidarity, advocacy, trust and shared struggle.
| “For Indigenous Peoples, waters are not simply resources or commodities. Oceans, rivers, lakes, wetlands and coastlines are living relatives. They carry our creation stories, sustain our ceremonies, feed our families and connect one generation to the next,” said Roberto Múkaro Agüeibaná Borrero, IITC Associate Director and Kasike of the Guainía Taíno Tribe of Borikén. “When our Peoples stand together, our individual voices become a collective force.” |
Indigenous rights, knowledge and leadership at the center
Conference discussions center the sacred relationships Indigenous Peoples maintain with oceans, seas, rivers, ice, wetlands and coastal ecosystems. Delegates are sharing creation stories, traditional knowledge, subsistence practices, customary governance practices and community responses to threats affecting their territories, livelihoods, and rights defenders.
Those threats include criminalization of rights defenders, industrial fishing, trawling, industrial aquaculture, extractive industries, pollution from plastics and agrochemicals, climate change, coastal development, tourism, militarization, the privatization of marine and coastal commons, and conservation measures imposed without the participation or free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples.
Participants are also examining opportunities and challenges within international policy processes, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organization Committee on Fisheries, the Committee on World Food Security, United Nations ocean processes, the agreement on marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, and international work addressing plastics, mercury and climate change.
The Guna General Congress is represented at the conference by Sagladummagan Lorenzo González and Celio De León, together with Domitilio Morris, Sagladummad of the General Congress of Culture. They are joined by secretaries, Bundorgan women’s representatives, the Youth Congress, secretariat coordinators and delegations from various communities.
| “Fishing remains a fundamental part of daily life in our communities,” said Sagladummagan Lorenzo González during the opening ceremonies. “At this gathering, participants will address the care and stewardship of other marine resources, including lobster and other species currently being taken from our seas.” |
From community waters to international action
The four-day program includes cultural exchanges, testimonies of community struggle and restoration, panels on threats to marine and coastal commons, discussions of international mechanisms, and a general debate on political advocacy and coordination among Indigenous fisher Peoples. Participants are expected to adopt final recommendations to guide collective action and strengthen Indigenous participation in fisheries, ocean, biodiversity, climate and food-policy processes.
The conference also emphasizes the participation of women and youth and the transmission of knowledge between generations. Its expected outcomes include a stronger international network of Indigenous Peoples engaged in small-scale and subsistence fisheries, a shared assessment of emerging threats and successful community responses, and coordinated advocacy positions grounded in Indigenous rights and self-determined priorities.
“The defense of Indigenous fisheries is inseparable from the defense of Indigenous Peoples themselves,” Borrero said in his opening remarks. “To protect the waters is to protect life. To defend food sovereignty is to defend dignity. To pass traditional knowledge to our children is to ensure that our Peoples will continue.”
###
Media contact
About the International Indian Treaty Council
The International Indian Treaty Council is an Indigenous organization working for the sovereignty and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples and for the recognition and protection of Indigenous rights, treaties, traditional cultures and sacred lands and waters.