The conversation around a global and collaborative small-scale fisheries study highlights the under-recognition and under-reporting of women’s work. Illuminating Hidden Harvests: The contribution of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development’ (IHH) is a collaborative study led by FAO, Duke University and WorldFish. The study, due out in 2021, consists of 58 country...

Artisanal and family fishing make a significant contribution to Cambodia’s economy and food security. Community fisheries are already empowered to manage local fisheries resources, but small-scale fisheries are often overlooked in policy making, partly due to a lack of reliable data. Developing a fisheries satellite account through the System of...

Future global biodiversity goals must recognise the vital contributions made by women and girls, particularly from indigenous and local communities. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is perhaps the most relevant and ethical convention for the conservation, the sustainable use, and the fair and equitable distribution of benefits of marine and...

Demand for fish is on the rise worldwide—fish consumption has spiked 122 percent in the last three decades, according to the United Nations. At least 3 billion people rely on seafood as a primary source of protein, according to the World Wildlife Fund. And the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that...

Fishing communities in Mexico grapple with the challenge of maintaining sustainable practices during the pandemic. COVID-19’s impacts have exacerbated challenges in the three dimensions of sustainability: social, economic, and environmental. As social and economic issues have been prioritized worldwide through the emphasis on the access to health, food production, basic services...

This brief identifies some of the areas that governments have intervened through emergency law to strengthen a resilient fisheries and aquaculture food supply chains and illustrates how these regulatory measures can be adopted by other countries thereby contribute to ensuring food security and economic development for all especially the indigenous...

Amparo Aleixandre's routine is no longer the same. These days, she receives orders through text messages, most of them come from her neighbors in the town of El Palmar, an island with about 700 inhabitants, surrounded by the Albufera lagoon, rice crops and orchards. El Palmar is several kilometers away...

While there is little doubt that the COVID pandemic will eventually be conquered, it has left the world to cope with long lasting damage. The damage has not been uniform. Rather, pre-existing inequalities have determined who will be hit the hardest. As a new report puts it, “Women and girls...

Los accidentes fatales por buceo en la pesca artesanal han sido recurrentes en las últimas dos décadas en países de América Latina y el Caribe, debido a la carencia de marcos legales nacionales que aseguren que la actividad se realiza con un entrenamiento profesional, con el equipo adecuado y con...

Con el fin de contribuir a la generación de medios de vida como estrategia de acceso a una alimentación sana y nutritiva para las familias de la comunidad de Duvergé en República Dominicana y localidades vecinas, ubicadas en el territorio de la Reserva de Biosfera Transfronteriza La Salle-Jaragua-Bahoruco-Enriquillo, CESAL está realizando acciones de...

From Rio to the present, from ‘green growth’ to implementing social solidarity economy, fighting the climate crisis and ensuring sustainable food systems and nutrition and (re)localisation of the economy.

While small-scale fishers in Indonesia have not been hit by COVID-19 infections, the lockdown measures and economic policies have left them more vulnerable. The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has forced changes across the world. After cases spread rapidly outside Wuhan, China since January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as...

Special edition: Asia and the Pacific;  This month a special edition of the SSF Update. Come with us to Asia and the Pacific and learn about work in the region to implement the SSF Guidelines!

For many years, Yemaya has been carrying articles related to the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP), a mass based association of small-scale fisher people from across the world, founded in 1997 by a number of mass based organisations from the Global South. WFFP was established in response to the...

Small-scale fisheries are important for the food security of the United States. Yet relief measures during the COVID-19 pandemic favour industrial operators, and are unsustainable. When the global COVID-19 pandemic hit the US in March 2020, no one knew for certain what it would mean for the seafood industry, let alone...

Apart from exposing vulnerable indigenous communities to infection, COVID-19 threatens a programme that provides livelihood to the vulnerable and helps conserve freshwater fish species. Indigenous people and rural communities in Brazil’s Amazon region have been dramatically hit by COVID-19. A note issued on 10 June by the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations...

Fifty-year-old Jharna Acharya is a social activist and a popular name among the Sabar, Lodha and Baiga communities of Paschim Medinipur and Jhargram districts of West Bengal. Her father, Kashinath Acharya, was a well-known activist of his district and had a profound influence on her life. He was associated with the...

Not only is fish an important part of nutrition in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), but it is also a major–and unrecognized–element of trade. Fish and fish products are a primary source of protein and essential nutrients in the human diet. Various fish and other aquatic species are available from...

Early in the Scottish summer, the traditional herring trade starts to flourish. Shoals move from Shetland in the north towards Great Yarmouth in southern England. Fleets of Scottish fishing boats follow the shoals south and haul in their catch. From 1860 onwards, these journeys were further mirrored on land by...

Access to affordable small fish is key to achieving zero hunger and improved nutrition in Ghana’s poor urban households, a new study shows. Small fish are indeed the backbone of Ghana’s animal protein supply in the poor urban neighbourhoods of Accra (such as Nima, Chorkor, Ga Mashie and James Town) and...