Enhancing Fishers Livelihoods through Social Protection
Written by Virginie Matterne, communications consultant, Equitable Livelihoods Team, Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, FAO
 |
Fisheries are essential to the well-being of rural and coastal communities worldwide, providing an important livelihood and possessing significant cultural value (FAO, 2018a). With approximately 60 million individuals involved, of which four out of ten are women, they represent the core workforce in the fishing industry, constituting 90 percent of its employment (FAO, 2023a). These communities not only rely on fish as a source of subsistence and food security and nutrition but also as their source of living.
Fishers face significant challenges such as poverty, vulnerability, and marginalization. Their income fluctuates due to various factors such as seasonality, environmental hazards and climate change, economic conditions, social and gender dynamics, political influences and health problems (FAO, 2022). These vulnerabilities often force them into negative coping mechanisms when safety-nets are not available, such as taking children out of school, resorting to high-interest loans, selling productive assets, and sometimes engaging in Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. While these actions may provide short-term relief, they compromise household well-being and environmental sustainability in the long run.
To meet these challenges and ensure decent working conditions, social protection plays a crucial role. Improving coherence between social protection and fisheries policies is a starting point to ensure that fishers’ needs are met, and vulnerabilities are accounted for (FAO, 2022). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently published a framework to identify ways to make social protection and fisheries policies coherent. This framework is guided by the Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines), which were endorsed by FAO member countries in 2015.
Chapter 6 of these guidelines, entitled "Social Development, Employment and Decent Work," promotes access to social protection, decent working conditions, and the economic inclusion of small-scale fishers in broader development processes (FAO, 2015).
Did you know?
- Only 29% of the global population enjoys access to comprehensive social security (ILO, 2017).
- Only 47% of the global population are effectively covered by at least one social protection (ILO, 2021).
- Only 1 in 4 children (26.4 percent) receives a social protection benefit (ILO, 2021).
How does social protection improve fishers' livelihoods?
Sustainable Fisheries Management: Social protection programs provide compensation to fishers affected by fisheries resource management strategies, such as seasonal fishing closures.
In Italy, at Torre Guaceto in Puglia, a marine protected area was created in 1991 to preserve diverse coastal and marine ecosystems. A consortium was set up to regulate fishing activities and support the socio-economic well-being of local communities dependent on marine resources. It ensured that fishers did not go without income during closed seasons by establishing mechanisms that provided financial support or alternative means of subsistence.
Income Security: Social protection programs such as Unemployment Benefits ensure that fishers receive wage compensation when fishing is limited, thus protecting their livelihoods. An illustrative example is the Brazilian Seguro-Defeso program, the unemployment insurance for small-scale fishers. The Seguro-Defeso program aims to support small-scale fishers affected by the closed season by providing financial compensation equal to the minimum wage during the months when fishing is prohibited. (FAO, 2023b).
Decent Work: Social security interventions protect fishers from employment injury, unemployment, and loss of equipment. Strong social insurance enhances accountability and supports labour rights. It can alleviate income insecurity, as mentioned, improve working conditions, create better employment opportunities and provide access to benefits like health and unemployment insurance.
Child Labour: Social protection systems are central to the relentless fight against child labor. By actively reducing the risks and vulnerabilities arising from family poverty, promoting sustainable livelihoods, and facilitating access to education through school enrollment, these systems are indispensable in eradicating and preventing child labour (ILO and UNICEF Office of Research, 2022).
Responding to Shocks: Social security interventions create safety nets for fishers during shocks, such as natural disasters. Formal and informal insurance mechanisms and social networks provide support during livelihood disruptions. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, governments expanded existing schemes by increasing coverage, benefit value, and program duration. They also introduced special payments and relaxed requirements to facilitate access for beneficiaries (FAO, 2021).
Economic Inclusion: Social protection measures empower fishers to invest in activities that enhance productivity and develop income strategies, fostering greater economic inclusion and adaptive capacity. Formalizing the fisheries sector, expanding social protection, and strengthening safety measures, risk management, disaster preparedness, and climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts pave the way for enhanced economic inclusion among fishing-dependent communities (FAO, 2022).
Gender Equality: Social protection measures address barriers, provide access to resources, offer capacity-building opportunities, ensure occupational safety, address childcare needs, and promote women's representation (FAO, 2018b). This empowers fisher women and contributes to a more equitable fishing industry.
Listen the podcast for more: Social protection, sustainability and fisheries.
How does FAO play a role in improving access to Social Protection?
FAO, through research and projects such as SocPro4Fish, provides tools and evidence-based approaches to extend or improve social protection systems in the fisheries sector. The SocPro4Fish project, implemented in Colombia, Paraguay, and Tunisia, and through global knowledge products, aims to generate evidence and lessons for poverty reduction, resilience building, and sustainable fisheries management. It strengthens institutional capacities for social protection implementation and monitoring, fostering economic inclusion and livelihood security (FAO, 2022).
By implementing comprehensive social protection measures, governments and organizations can address the challenges faced by small-scale fishers, support their livelihoods, and contribute to sustainable fisheries management.
One concrete example showcasing social protection's impact in enhancing fishers’ livelihoods unfolds in Buenaventura, Colombia. Through the support of different organizations, including FAO and NORAD, the Platoneras—women fish vendors—have gained access to basic social protection schemes. This inclusive assistance, including health insurance and retirement benefits, not only bolsters the well-being of the Platoneras but also contributes to the resilience of the local fishing community and fosters a more secure future for all.
Listen the podcast for more: Colombia's Sea Women Net a Better Deal
Read the web story: Combining safety nets and fishing nets for Colombian fish workers. Social protection gives women fish workers more economic independence and security.
More information, including all the previous editions of SocPro4Fish, can be found here.
Sources
FAO. 2018a. Achieving blue growth. Building vibrant fisheries and aquaculture communities. Rome.
FAO. 2018b. FAO Technical Guide 1 – Introduction to gender-sensitive social protection programming to combat rural poverty: Why is it important and what does it mean? Rome. 76 pp
FAO. 2023a. International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022 – Final report. Rome.
FAO and IPC-IG. 2023b. Socioeconomic impact evaluation of unemployment insurance for small-scale fishers in Brazil (Seguro-Defeso). Research Report, No. 78. Brasília: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations and International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
ILO. 2017. World Social Protection Report 2017–19: Universal social protection to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. International Labour Office – Geneva.
ILO. 2021. World Social Protection Report 2020–22: Social protection at the crossroads ‒ in pursuit of a better future. International Labour Office – Geneva.
ILO and UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti. 2022. The role of social protection in the elimination of child labour: Evidence review and policy implications. Geneva and Florence: International Labour Organization and UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti, 2022.