Workshop on mainstreaming small-scale fisheries in governance and policy in Latin America and the Caribbean

In mid-December, a workshop was held in the Yucatan Peninsula on how to mainstream small-scale fisheries in governance and policy in Latin America and the Caribbean. The workshop was hosted by the Mexican civil society organization Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI), in collaboration with the global research partnership Too Big To Ignore (TBTI), the Charles Darwin Foundation, the Fisheries Research Institute of Ecuador, Universidad de Magdalena, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV)-Mérida and Colegio de la Frontera Sur (Ecosur)-Chetumal.

Photo from the workshop © COBI

Researchers and civil society organizations worked together to co-design a regional framework for mainstreaming the SSF Guidelines into governance and policy in the region, and also discussed how to assess implementation. Topics on the agenda included policies and efforts for SFF-Guidelines adoption in Latin America and the Caribbean, existing digital platforms to explore alignment and the reporting of contributions towards implementation, the TBTI information system on small-scale fisheries (ISSF), understanding of small-scale fisheries and the 'blue justice' concept, identifying collaboration opportunities for the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture in 2022, and more.

The workshop participants intend to continue building the framework, test it at the national and community scales, and connect current digital platforms.