Inland fisheries are "any activity conducted to extract fish and other aquatic organisms from inland waters”. Capture fisheries in inland waters have long provided an important source of food for mankind. They are critical for a subset of countries in the world, providing an important source of nutrition, food security as well as micro-nutrients. Inland fisheries are under increasing pressure and threats arising from far reaching changes to the aquatic environment arising from human activities such as damming, navigation, wetland reclamation for agriculture, urbanization, water extraction and transfer, and waste disposal...[more]
Key Publications
Globally, inland capture fisheries continue to play crucial roles, contributing significantly to human health, livelihoods, cultural economies. Despite producing over 12 percent of the world’s fish, they face challenges such as environmental degradation and competition for water, remaining undervalued in [...]
The FAO Fishery and Aquaculture Circular C942 Revision 4 (C942 Rev. 4) provides a comprehensive overview of the global status of inland capture fisheries. This review analyzes trends of inland capture fisheries at global, continental and subcontinental levels, highlighting the [...]
Latest Resources
El libro destaca la importancia de la pesca para los Pueblos Indígenas de la Amazonia en sus sistemas alimentarios, espiritualidad y gobernanza. Recoge conocimientos ancestrales sobre peces, biodiversidad y técnicas de manejo, y analiza consumos, presiones externas y marcos legales. [...]
The guidance addresses two imbalances in ecosystem restoration: the dominance of ecological objectives and the neglect of inland aquatic ecosystems. It promotes a people-centred approach that prioritizes livelihoods, poverty reduction and food security, with ecological outcomes as co-benefits. It highlights [...]
The Global Workshop on Integrated Water Resources Management and Inland Fisheries, organized by FAO in Entebbe, Uganda (18–20 March 2025), gathered 38 participants from 20 countries, including basin management organizations, regional fisheries bodies, national agencies and experts. It promoted the [...]
This technical paper is an initial step towards exploring the potential identification of other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) in inland waters where fisheries and fisheries-related activities take place. It forms part of the FAO Blue Transformation roadmap, as highlighted [...]
Recognizing the role of inland fisheries in avoiding emissions is essential for fostering sustainable food systems, supporting ecosystem services, and advancing climate change mitigation efforts toward net-zero goals.
The Fisheries and Aquaculture Division (NFI) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized an in-person expert meeting in Rome, Italy on 27–29 November 2023 to discuss considerations and opportunities for recognizing other effective area-based conservation [...]