
Insurance for small-scale fisheries
2024
This document describes why insurance is important for small-scale fisheries. It discusses the benefits, challenges and options for widening access and insurance provision to small-scale fishers. Traditional and alternative models for small-scale fisheries insurance are presented and the guide gives ideas for creating an enabling environment for insuring small-scale fishers. Information on recent FAO publications that support fisheries insurance is also included.
Categories Publication

Action Plan for Safety, Social Protection and Decent Work in Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) Region
2024
Fishing is one of the world's most dangerous forms of occupation in the world. Risks of accidents and deaths at sea are even more profound within the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) region where over 95 percent of the fishing fleet is small-scale. The objective of the Action Plan is to provide guidance to its members on concrete actions to ensure safety, social protection and decent working conditions on fishing fleets operating under WECAFC’s mandate.
Categories Publication

Guidance on addressing child labour in fisheries and aquaculture
2013
Child labour is a major concern in many parts of the world and it is estimated that there are some 215 million child labourers worldwide. Aggregate data indicate that about 60 per cent of child labourers – that is over 129 million children – work in agriculture, including fisheries and aquaculture. While there are limited disaggregated data on child labour specifically related to fisheries and aquaculture, case-specific evidence points to significant numbers.

Tackling child labour in fisheries and aquaculture
2021
The global aquatic food industry faces scrutiny for environmental sustainability and poor labor conditions, including forced and child labor. Research on child labor in fishing, aquaculture, and processing is limited, exacerbated by informal sectors and weak enforcement. Addressing these issues requires increased awareness and collaboration globally.
Categories Knowledge Product

Widening access to social protection
2024
In Colombia, Paraguay and Tunisia, FAO implemented a project called Social Protection for Fisheries and Aquaculture (SocPro4Fish) to build the institutional capacities of countries to extend adequate and comprehensive coverage of social protection to the fisheries and aquaculture sector.
Categories Knowledge Product

Report of the FAO workshop on social protection for the fisheries and aquaculture sector: Brasília, Brazil, 28 November–1 December 2023
2024
This workshop report covers the discussions held during the workshop on social protection for the fisheries and aquaculture sector, which takes place in Brasilia in November 2023. It includes an overview of the country's social protection portfolio and their challenges in implementing social protection for the sector, as well as the key recommendations for this area of work in terms of research and policy work.
Categories Workshop report

Shock-sensitive Social Protection in the context of climate variability and its impacts on small-scale fishers and fish farmers
2024
Este recurso ha sido elaborado con el objetivo de proporcionar herramientas y estrategias clave para fortalecer la resiliencia de las comunidades pesqueras y acuícolas frente a los desafíos climáticos.

Social protection for fisheries and aquaculture (SOCPRO4FISH): Tunisia
2024
The “Social Protection for the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector” (SocPro4Fish) project seeks to enhance adequate social protection coverage in the fisheries sector to address these risks, vulnerabilities, and challenges. This infographic captures the main results of the SocPro4Fish project in Colombia.
Categories brochure

Social protection for fisheries and aquaculture (SOCPRO4FISH): Colombia
2024
The “Social Protection for the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector” (SocPro4Fish) project seeks to enhance adequate social protection coverage in the fisheries sector to address these risks, vulnerabilities, and challenges. This infographic captures the main results of the SocPro4Fish project in Colombia.
Categories brochure

Social protection for fisheries and aquaculture (SOCPRO4FISH): Paraguay
2024
The “Social Protection for the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector” (SocPro4Fish) project seeks to enhance adequate social protection coverage in the fisheries sector to address these risks, vulnerabilities, and challenges. This infographic captures the main results of the SocPro4Fish project in Paraguay.
Categories brochure

Plan of action for enhanced safety, decent work and social protection in the fisheries sector of the Bay of Bengal Programme region (BOBSAFE)
2023
This plan addresses the safety of vessels and equipment, underscoring the importance of standard designs and construction plans for fishing vessels. It advocates for vessel registration and licensing; inspection of vessel yards to ensure adherence to safety standards; adoption of international codes and guidelines for fishing vessel safety; provision of decent working conditions and social protection to fishers; formalizing labour contracts; and enhancing search and rescue capabilities.

Social protection for fisheries and aquaculture (SocPro4Fish) in Colombia
2023
This brochure provides a comprehensive overview of social protection, introduces the SocPro4Fish project, outlines its objectives, and highlights the achieved results in the context of Colombia's fisheries and aquaculture sector.
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Protecting Lives and Improving Livelihoods: Enhancing Social Protection through Occupational Health and Safety in WECAFC's Dive Fisheries
2023
Divers from the WECAFC region come in all profiles, nationalities, and ages. In Honduras and Nicaragua, most of an estimated total of 9,000 divers are Miskitos, an Indigenous People living along the eastern coast of the two countries. In large part, divers are male with ages ranging from 15 to 60. All face occupational health and safety issues and vulnerabilities due to their work.

Expanding social protection coverage for fishers and fish workers in Tunisia
2023
Meet Abdessalem, Taher, and Marbouka, fishers from Tunisia. Through their voices, discover their work, challenges, and the obstacles they face in accessing social protection. Find out more about FAO's social protection initiative for the fisheries and aquaculture sector (socPro4Fish) in Tunisia.

Social Protection in the Fisheries and Aquaculture sector
2021
This video is part of the “Social Protection in Rural Areas: building responsive systems in the context of Covid-19” series at the FAO e-learning academy. This session gives us an introduction to social protection in the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

Self-paced course on addressing the climate change and poverty nexus
2023
This course is intended to strengthen awareness, motivation, understanding and capacity among regional and national partners (IGOs, governments, NGOs, sectoral organizations) to implement climate and poverty reduction actions, with specific consideration of the fisheries sector, and in a more integrated, cohesive way, delivering co-benefits to the achievement of the Paris Agreement Targets and SDGs.

Colombia's sea women net a better deal
2023
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO, and its partners including the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, NORAD, are supporting the Platoneras to strengthen their livelihoods and improve their access to social protection schemes - all the while boosting the community's food security.

Podcast - Social protection, sustainability and fisheries
2022
The UN General Assembly has declared 2022 as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022) to enhance global awareness and promote collaboration around the theme. To provide guidance for related initiatives, the IYAFA Action Plan was structured around seven pillars, including social and environmental sustainability. Social protection can provide valuable contributions to all of them.

Strengthening coherence between social protection and fisheries policies. Diagnostic tool.
2022
This FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper is aimed primarily at policymakers, development partners, civil society organizations and practitioners managing the design and implementation of fisheries policies and social protection interventions and providing technical and/or financial support to both sectors.
Categories paper, PUBLICATIONS
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Socioeconomic impact evaluation of unemployment insurance for small-scale fishers in Brazil (Seguro-Defeso)
2023
For the first time since the benefit was introduced 30 years ago, a study conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG), evaluated the socioeconomic impacts of this social protection programme on small-scale fishers and their families.
Categories Key documents