The FishFAD project is the result of several activities initiated by the FAO Subregional Office in Apia, Samoa. These include several fisheries staff from the Pacific undertaking a study tour of fishing and cooperative activities in the Caribbean (Barbados, Grenada and Dominica) in May 2018 to exchange ideas and experiences.
In addition, a survey of FAD and fisher associations in selected Pacific island countries was conducted in 2018, and an FAO/SPC expert consultation on small-scale tuna fishery development and associated value-chains in the Pacific was held in October 2018.
The FishFAD project has four outcome areas or components:
1. Community nearshore FAD programmes are strengthened and developed to provide improved access to high-value tuna species;
2. Fisher associations and cooperatives are structured and strengthened;
3. Livelihood opportunities and revenue-generating activities (RGAs) (ecotourism, post-harvest processing and marketing, sports fishing) are developed; and
4. Safety at sea is improved for FAD fishers.
Baseline assessments were conducted in all countries after the project started on 1 May 2019, which identified potential priority activities for countries.
The Project Management Unit (PMU) was also established and the project team recruited. The Inception Workshop in February 2020 allowed countries to further prioritise activities under outcome areas 1 and 4.