This document provides a global overview of beach seine fisheries and identifies key issues relevant for the responsible use of beach seines and the sustainable livelihoods of beach seine fishers. It also gives guidelines for fisheries managers and other stakeholders on how best to address the issues of management processes and measures, which have the mutually beneficial goals of restoring and conserving the health of fishery resources and their habitats and safeguarding the livelihoods of fishers and their communities. The document draws on the findings of case studies coordinated and funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Fisheries and Aquaculture Department in the Gambia, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Peru and Sri Lanka, and by the FAO/United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (SFLP) in Benin, Ghana and Togo. In addition to the findings of the case studies, other studies and publications on beach seines were reviewed and used for the preparation of this document.

FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper. No. 562, Rome 2011