The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on a small-scale fishing in Lorient is vividly captured in the pages of a diary maintained by a gillnetter skipper’s spouse. In March 2020, Emmanuelle Yheul-Bertin, wife of a gillnet skipper who runs a 13-metre gillnetter vessel with four men on board, began recording the...

300 kilometers south of Tunis, in the Gulf of Gabes, women have long harvested clams to generate an income. The seasonal work is often labor intensive and poorly paid. That is why FAO, in collaboration with the Tunisian government and a local women’s association, have created a pilot project to...

Changing land use patterns threaten the livelihood of female crab collectors in Merauke, Papua, Indonesia. Over the years, crab collection in mangrove and wetland forests has been a major source of income for women of the indigenous Asmat and Mappi communities of the island of Papua in Indonesia. These women harvest...

Iniciaron los primeros días de septiembre los nacimientos de larvas de las centollas (Lithodes santolla) mantenidas en el acuario del Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP).Las “madres”, que corresponden a dos camadas de hembras procedentes de aguas de plataforma en el Área Central de administración de la pesquería...

The latest Atlantic tragedy reaches thousands in Brazil and remains unsolved. Oil spill disasters in the ocean often devastate marine and coastal ecosystems, profoundly affecting fisheries resources and fishing communities. Urgent and early-warning actions are needed to avoid a tragedy in biomes and communities when such accidents occur. In late-July 2019,...

A brief overview of relevant global findings and processes on the contributions of small-scale fisheries and rights to food and nutrition security, with a focus on the FAO. In fact, the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) endorsed by...

En 2013, la FAO a lancé l’Initiative Croissance bleue visant à stimuler le développement économique et social des communautés qui dépendent des ressources aquatiques pour leur alimentation et leurs moyens d’existence. Ces dernières années ont vu l’émergence d’une nouvelle vague d’innovateurs Croissance bleue qui luttent contre la pêche illégale qui...

With the death of Sidney Holt late last year, the world lost a man blessed with a towering intellect, boundless curiosity and an unwavering commitment to conservation. Sidney began his professional life in 1947 at the Fisheries Laboratory in Lowestoft, UK. Michael Graham was the lab’s director then and he set...

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has introduced multiple challenges in the lives of small-scale fishers in Indonesia. The COVID-19 pandemic that affected Indonesia in early March 2020 has impacted coastal communities, fisher households and fisher women. Information collected by women fisher activists in 12 provinces revealed that the pandemic has dealt...

Reflections on the ICSF workshop and recommendations to India’s draft National Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy (NIFAP), September 2019. The International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) organized a national workshop to discuss the draft National Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy (NIFAP), being finalized by India’s Union Ministry of Agriculture...

The World Rural Forum (WRF), with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), carried out a study to monitor the progress in the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028 (UNDFF) through National and Regional / Subregional Action Plans on Family...

For the first time in Chile, a new type of autonomous social movement, including fishworker organizations, seeks to create a democratic and representative constitution. Three major organizations in Chile have rejected the Social Agenda for Artisanal Fishers that President Sebastián Piñera’s government had proposed. (The proposal is called ‘Agenda social para...

The full range of activities required to deliver fish and fish products from production to the final consumer is subject to indirect impacts of the pandemic through new sanitary measures, changing consumer demands, market access or logistical problems related to transportation and border restrictions. This in turn has a damaging...

Taiwan government proposes a national level Coastal Blue Economy Growth (CBEG) program to promote ocean- linked industries based on the concept of sustainable development. Sea farming development is considered an important aspect that needs to be promoted for the CBEG program. Generally, sea farming relies on artificial technologies, environmental improvement...

Interview of Mme Diaba Diop, general secretary of Pencum Sénégal (GÉF/ Women’s Economic Group). I became a fish processor when I left school. I had sat twice for the Bac (‘A’ Levels). My grandmother, who worked in that trade, was growing old. So I decided to join forces with her. By...

Artisanal fishers’ experiential knowledge contains qualities that can help the world face some of its most difficult problems including climate change. We need to value their wisdom. Most maritime countries have neglected and shunned their small-scale fisheries since the mid-1950s. This was done in the name of fisheries development, to make...

In 2013, the government of Nicaragua requested technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to formulate a strategy that improves the occupational safety of lobster fishermen, while also increasing the sustainability of fishing for this crustacean on the country’s North Caribbean Coast. Since then,...

The Darawa community in the Wakatobi National Park, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, manages their octopus fishery by working tirelessly with community-based organizations. It was a beautiful and sunny Sunday. The Darawa village community in the Wakatobi National Park, in Indonesia’s Southeast Sulawesi, was preparing to celebrate. The occasion was the first opening...

Women in the small scale fishing sector in Mexico are key drivers ensuring food security and community wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have surpassed all imaginable scenarios. The global crisis moves fast and changes quickly, hence forcing people to adapt and navigate through uncertainty as...

This manual on safety at sea for small-scale fishers aims to contribute to a culture of safety awareness among fisherfolk, reduce the number of accidents and increase the chances of survival if accidents occur. The manual provides guidance on safety matters related to the work on a small-scale fishing vessel...