Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries

Policies must focus on addressing the needs and challenges of small-scale fisheries, which are a critical source of employment, livelihoods, food and nutrition for millions of coastal families and communities.

The Guidelines, adopted by Member Countries in 2014, offer a pathway that benefits small-scale fishers, fish workers, their communities and society at large. Government ministries and policymakers are now working on their implementation.

There is a particular need for improved inter-ministerial collaboration and policy coherence given that small-scale fisheries touch trade, environment, tourism, socioeconomic development and gender issues. This is particularly pertinent in times of crisis (climate, conflicts, pandemics, etc.) that often affect entire value chain and the livelihoods depending on it. Today more than ever, countries should increase their collaboration to share promising practices and opportunities for a prosperous future of the sector.

That is particularly important where catches go unreported and trade is informal, in order to better quantify the importance, monetary value and scale of this sector and enhance the analysis of related issues.

This need became particularly apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, whose knock-on effects on supply chains disproportionally affected small-scale fishers, fish workers and their communities. The sector has shown its capacity to react and promising practices and opportunities have emerged, which should contribute to increased resilience of the sector.

FAO secures this by including small-scale fisheries in decision-making processes by building bridges between different stakeholders, establishing and broadening open lines of communication between fishing organizations and national policymakers, and offering a platform to fishers and fish workers. Additionally, these efforts are being supported by comprehensive data and information analysis to ensure that traditional know-how is being preserved and implemented in the shaping of national laws and policies.