The main reasons why most small-scale fishers and their vessels are presently not insured are:

• Low awareness of insurance advantages.
• Lack of insurance providers active in the fishing communities.
• Currently available insurance premiums are regarded too high.
• Insurance policies and claim settlement processes are neither understood nor trusted.
• The income from fisheries varies, because of seasonality of fishing, and insurance premium payments are not flexible.

The interest of insurers in providing their services to small-scale fishers is often low because of:

• Limited knowledge of fishing operations and the needs of fishers.
• Limited knowledge of demand for insurance by fishers.
• Low profitability of fishing vessel insurance (high transaction costs + small premiums + high monitoring costs).
• Lack of insurance mandates for fishing vessels.
• Few well-functioning fisherfolk cooperatives that can act as insurance agents.

Insurers, governments, investors and fishers themselves all have a part to play in creating an environment which favours fishing safety through increasing access to insurance services.

The delivery of insurance services to fishers can be facilitated through:

• Policy and legislation – e.g. by making insurance mandatory for vessel registration and for authorizations to fish;
• Meeting information needs and enhancing understanding and awareness of insurance as a safety net;
• Testing, piloting and promoting innovative products, such as parametric insurance, establishment of insurance facilities, risk funds and modern mutual insurance schemes; and
• Leveraging technology (e.g. mobile phones) to facilitate insurance premium payments, recording of damage and losses, and making claims.

FAO promotes the development of adequate insurance services in fisheries, through awareness raising and capacity building, as well as through carrying out demand assessments among fishers and supporting the preparation of insurance programmes at national level.

In 2020 FAO initiated the Global Network for capacity building to increase access of small-scale fisheries to financial services (CAFI SSF Network), which is a result of ongoing collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA). The CAFI SSF Network is linked with the FAO Rural Finance and Investment Learning Centre (RFILC). The Network provides a platform that catalyzes the involvement of key private sector stakeholders (e.g. rural banks, agricultural credit associations, fishing companies, fishers’ organizations, financial and fisheries experts) to share experiences and knowledge, and to promote capacity building to increase fishers’ access to financial and insurance services.