Fish plays an important role in securing nutritional requirements of coastal populations. It is also a source of export markets in the developing countries. However this tension manifests in the expansion of industrial fisheries sector and devising policies that will sustain livelihoods of artisanal fishers. The international symposium on marine environment and the future of fishworkers was held in Lisbon, Portugal from June 19th to 24th, 1989. One of the primary objective of the Lisbon symposium was to strengthen the bonds among small scale fish-workers and their supporters, both in the north and the south.