The 32 minute film complied by shows a change that has occurred over a decade in different countries across the world — truthful appreciation of women’s role in fisheries. Despite differences in society, culture, politics and economics, their involvement in the sector follows a similar arc the world over. The...

Months after a container ship carrying toxic chemicals caught fire off the west coast of Sri Lanka, fisherfolk still suffer from the dreadful aftereffects of the country’s worst marine ecological disaster. A 186-m-long container ship called X-Press Pearl, registered in Singapore, arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on the night of 19...

Political turmoil following a military coup has robbed small-scale fisherfolk in Myanmar of their decade-long success in making democracy work for them. The governance of Myanmar’s inland and coastal fisheries underwent reforms in favour of small-scale fisheries (SSF) and fishing communities in the period between 2010 and 2020. This happened through...

Antigua and Barbuda’s robust social security schemes have, over the years, been a great safety net for sustainable fisheries in the country. This report analyses and reports on recent changes across the system and its effect on fishers. Increased digitization and reliance on remote technology has become a barrier for...

As climate change continues to impact fishing communities, the international climate regime needs to do more to safeguard the community. At COP 26, it did not. Last November, 120 world leaders and over 40,000 participants gathered in Glasgow for two weeks of meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate...

For generations, it was mistakenly viewed as a man’s world. Women have always been there, but fisheries and aquaculture are now seeing a surge in women starting their own businesses in all areas of the sector. Today, more than 50 million women are involved in fisheries and aquaculture around the world...

The IPCC’s sixth assessment report says small-scale fishers are among the people on the planet most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. An estimated 90 per cent of all people directly dependent on marine and inland capture fisheries work in the small-scale fisheries sub-sector. They are largely rooted in local...

Meeting in Mumbai, women fishworkers of the coastal districts of the Indian State of Maharashtra drew up an agenda to advocate for their rights and livelihoods. In December 2021, a dozen women from the coastal districts of the western Indian State of Maharashtra assembled in the capital, Mumbai. All experienced fishworker...

Across the world, small-scale fishers have set examples of leadership to meet the environmental challenge. Now, a university initiative documents such exemplary efforts. Small-scale fishers (SSF) have a long history of environmental stewardship and conservation of their local environments, safeguarding natural resources and local livelihoods. Such efforts need greater recognition and...

The year 2022 has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture. In Africa, artisanal fisheries employ more than ten million men and women, and feed more than 200 million Africans. African fisheries, 75 per cent of which are artisanal, are the largest...

The International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022) was launched in the Pacific Islands, during an event today to mark the occasion, by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Pacific fishers, the Pacific Community (SPC) and INFOFISH. The IYAFA 2022 year-long regional campaign will highlight...

The following is the text of the ICSF statement submitted to the 24th meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-24) on 23 March 2022 at Geneva, Switzerland. ICSF welcomes the Chair’s draft recommendation to the Conference of Parties (CBD/SBSTTA/24/CRP.2). Recognizing the...

Dedicated to “the Ancestors who stewarded the ocean” an interactive story map created by the Pacific Sea Garden Collective reawakens traditional ways of harvesting food from the sea from Panama to Australia to the Pacific Northwest.

The country’s commitment to providing for and protecting all communities and its diversity, while admirable, has thus far been ineffective. Enacted policies have failed to make much headway, due to a lack of co-ordination between different government institutions. The country’s rural development efforts have mostly been directed towards the agriculture...

Recent years have seen Brazil’s social and environmental policies weakened and dismantled at a frightening scale. Rights violations, lack of access to benefits, and a complete disregard for the sector during the pandemic has led to a rise in inequality and poverty. Our research confirms a lack of government initiative...

Levedy Céleste Lossangoye developed a passion for fish farming at an early age. She grew up surrounded by fish ponds on her family’s fish farm in Andem in the Central African country of Gabon. Located around 60 kilometres from Libreville, the country’s capital, her family’s farm has 21 ponds across...

The document is a brief of showcase of a specific aquaculture innovation. It contains main information on the technique and approach used, scope and scale of application, accessibility and the outcome and benefits of the innovation. Aquaculture has traditionally been carried out in freshwater and coastal areas. This causes pressures including...

The social pillar of sustainable development ought to be strengthened to protect the future of lives and livelihoods in the small-scale fisheries subsector  

ICSF’s Bangkok workshop was a vibrant start to a series of international events to commemorate the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022)

The following Statement was made at the ‘Asia Workshop: IYAFA 2022-Celebrating Sustainable and Equitable Small-Scale Fisheries’, organized by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) and the Sustainable Development Foundation (SDF) at Bangkok, Thailand from 5 to 8 May, 2022