Small-scale fisheries (SSF) operate in both marine and inland waters, accounting for over half of the total fish catch in developing countries. The bulk of this catch is destined for local consumption and is a primary source of essential nutrients. The health of aquatic ecosystems are fundamental to the livelihoods...

The 2021 COFI Declaration for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture aims to acknowledge the achievements of the fisheries and aquaculture in the past 25 years, and to gather collective momentum in tackling the challenges and opportunities to secure the long-term sustainability of the sector. We need to take action to ensure...

Fishing and aquaculture provide a vital source of food, employment, trade and economic well-being for people throughout the world, for present and future generations, and should therefore be conducted in a responsible manner. The Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (the Code) sets out principles and international standards for responsible...

Climate change is a major challenge for agriculture, a vital source of food, income and employment for most of the world’s poor. Agricultural investments, as a result, need to become more climate sensitive. This is as true for general agricultural investments focused on development outcomes as for projects specifically addressing...

El presente manual tiene como objetivo entregar las bases científicas y técnicas para diseñar e implementar un sistema de monitoreo ambiental participativo en caletas pesqueras de Chile, como herramienta para mejorar la adaptación al cambio climático. Este tipo de monitoreo se caracteriza por la participación activa de mujeres y hombres...

This report presents the results of IFAD’s stock-take on agroecology. It assesses to what degree IFAD is supporting agroecology throughout its in-country portfolio across the five IFAD regions to the benefit of small-scale producers and sustainable food systems. It also identifies gaps and opportunities for scaling up and scaling out...

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) invites you to the launch of IFAD’s first comprehensive report on a holistic approach to sustainable production and food systems. Based on a stock-take of recent IFAD-supported projects assessing their promotion of agroecology, this learning session will discuss key findings and recommendations for more...

While Thailand has been proactive in implementing the SSF Guidelines, much work is required to join social development with sustainable fisheries. In 2015 all UN member states, including Thailand, adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It comprises 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that include: Ending poverty, improving healthcare and education,...

The reforms needed by small-scale fishers in the Philippines pivot around the role of the municipal administration in handling fisheries development and the welfare of fisherfolk. Fishing in the Philippines is crucially dependent on small-scale fisheries as a sector that is anchored in local communities that have historic links to adjacent...

A survey of fisherfolk in the Indian state of West Bengal shows that relief measures for natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic must take into account long-standing vulnerabilities. The two most important concepts to set the agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs) are ‘social development’ and ‘sustainable management’. The...

Lobster exports in Nicaragua grew 34 percent between 2015 and 2019; the most productive zone is the Caribbean coast, part of the territory of the indigenous communities of the Miskitu, Sumu-Mayangna, Rama and Ulwa peoples, and of Afro-descendants, such as the Creole and Garífuna. In this area, artisanal and commercial lobster catch...

It is high time that negotiations on subsidies at the WTO result in an agreement whose primary goal is transparency and universality in fisheries conservation and management measures. The draft Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (WT/MIN(21)/W/5) from the Chair of the Negotiation Group on Rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), ought...

Though Kerala and Tamil Nadu are top performers on the Human Development Index, their advances in sustainability and social development do not reach small-scale fishers. Social development of fishing communities can be made possible only through policies and services for poverty eradication, employment generation and social inclusion that address the specific...

Fishers in Thailand have formed the Fishers Rights Network to collectively demand better wages and working conditions to prevent labour and human-rights abuses. Despite international pressure and government efforts to revise policy, Burmese and Cambodian migrant fishers in Thailand’s seafood industry still face significant labour-rights abuses. While there have been some...

Improving the lot of small-scale and artisanal fisheries in Costa Rica will lead to the betterment of indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants and other vulnerable groups. Located in Central America, Costa Rica is a country where only one-tenth of its territory is made up of land. Official data shows the territorial extension of...

A study has come up with specific recommendations for the development and welfare of the fisheries sector and its small-scale fisher communities in Bangladesh, the ‘Land of Rivers’. With 230 rivers coursing through the country, Bangladesh is called the ‘Land of Rivers’. It also has the world’s largest flooded wetland. Rivers...

While tourism is the mainstay of the economy of the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda, fisheries reforms will give them resilience from developments like COVID-19. Human-rights principles in small-scale fisheries were officially established with the publication in 2015 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) of...

The growing global opposition to destructive salmon farming has found vocal expression in Chile and Argentina, highlighting issues related to labour and working conditions. The industrial salmonid monoculture in Chile has a history of more than three decades of productive and territorial expansion in the country’s waters, which has transformed the...

The post-COVID-19 lockdowns did not just hit fishing operations and markets in Cambodia but also resulted in nutritional insecurity for the most vulnerable small-scale fishers. By April 2021 Cambodia had recorded more than 2,500 cases of COVID-19 and 16 deaths. The government closed schools, discouraged mass gatherings and restricted travel from...

Natural disasters like cyclones, more than the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with lack of research on the conditions of the poor, threaten the well-being of small-time fishers in Mozambique. When the COVID-19 pandemic landed on Mozambique shores last year, it found a country in dire need of socioeconomic renewal and welfare reform....