Small-scale fisheries play an important role in contributing to food security, nutrition, livelihoods and local and national economies. However, there is often limited data and information available (or not easily accessible) on their contributions, and hence small scale fisheries tend to be overlooked and marginalized in policy processes, leading to low levels of support for the sector. The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and P overty Eradication (the SSF Guidelines), adopted by the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in 2014, provide a policy framework for how to ensure sustainability for small-scale fisheries through a holistic and integrated approach. However, this transformational process needs substantial support to take place and be successful, which may be difficult to obtain in the absence of better data and information on the socio-economic contributions of small-scale fisheries. For this reason, a new study has been proposed by FAO and WorldFish to build upon the 2012 World Bank, FAO and WorldFish Center report Hidden Harvest: The Global Contribution of Capture Fisheries. The new study would deepen the knowledge and encourage data-sharing on small-scale fisheries and their socio-economic contributions, and also aim to make policy- and decision-makers aware of the sector’s importance.

The 2018 edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture emphasizes the sector’s role in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, and measurement of progress towards these goals. It notes the particular contributions of inland and small-scale fisheries, and highlights the importance of rights-based governance for equitable and inclusive development. As in past editions, the publication begins with a global analysis of trends in fisheries and aquaculture production, stocks, processing and use, trade and consumption, based on the latest official statistics, along with a review of the status of the world’s fishing fleets and human engagement and governance in the sector. Topics explored in Parts 2 to 4 include aquatic biodiversity; the ecosystem approach to fisheries and to aquaculture; climate change impacts and responses; the sector’s contribution to food security and human nutrition; and issues related to international trade, consumer protection and sustainable value chains. Global developments in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, selected ocean pollution concerns and FAO’s efforts to improve capture fishery data are also discussed. The issue concludes with the outlook for the sector, including projections to 2030. As always, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture aims to provide objective, reliable and up-to- date information to a wide audience, including policy-makers, managers, scientists, stakeholders and indeed all those interested in the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

Managing Small-Scale Fisheries: Alternative directions and methods

This diagnostic tool advances the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) through policy and legal frameworks. It is a key tool for use by any actor, including small-scale fishers, who is interested in contributing to the SSF Guidelines operationalization at the national level. By using this tool, users are able to recognize the national policy and legal instruments that are relevant to small-scale fisheries in a country, consistent with the SSF Guidelines. Users are also able to: assess policy coherence for SSF; assess the alignment of national fisheries policy and legal instruments with the SSF Guidelines; identify gaps and strengths in these instruments; and further propose recommendations for improving the existing national policy and legal framework according with the SSF Guidelines.

The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) represent the first ever international instrument dedicated to small-scale fisheries. They represent a global consensus on principles and guidance for small-scale fisheries governance and development. They were developed for small-scale fisheries in close collaboration with representatives of small-scale fisheries organizations in a participatory process between 2011-13, involving over 4000 stakeholders; facilitated by FAO, based on a mandate by COFI. They are directed at all those involved in the sector and intend to guide and encourage governments, fishing communities and other stakeholders to work together and ensure secure and sustainable small-scale fisheries for the benefit of small-scale fishers, fish workers and their communities as well as for society at large.

Small-scale fisheries (SSF) play an important role in food security and poverty reduction. However, this role is not always recognized and many SSF communities remain marginalized, both with regard to resource management and from a broader social and economic perspective. The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) are the first international instrument dedicated entirely to the immensely important small-scale fisheries sector. The project “Enhancing the contribution of small-scale fisheries to food security and sustainable livelihoods through better policies, strategies and initiatives” is part of the FAO Umbrella Programme for the promotion and application of the SSF Guidelines. The evaluation of this project provides important lessons and recommendations that will inform the formulation and implementation of related on-going projects under the Umbrella Programme, for enhanced promotion and application of the SSF Guidelines. The evaluation found that the project has succeeded in firmly anchoring SSF considerations in the global fisheries policy and research agendas, and in increasing momentum in regional and national awareness of, and commitment to, the SSF Guidelines. The project has allowed a process of consolidation of the trajectory of change initiated with the adoption of the SSF Guidelines, but more time is needed for benefits to trickle to lower levels of governance and to SSF communities themselves.

Illuminating Hidden Harvests: the contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development (hereinafter IHH) is a global study uncovering the contributions and impacts of small-scale fisheries through a multidisciplinary approach to data collection and analysis. The study provides information that quantifies and improves understanding of the crucial role of small-scale fisheries in the areas of food security and nutrition, sustainable livelihoods, poverty eradication and healthy ecosystems. It also examines gender equality as well as the nature and scope of governance in small-scale fisheries. The IHH study was carried out in support of the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines), themselves developed in recognition of the plight of small-scale fishers, fishworkers and associated communities and released as a contribution to the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022. The purpose of this report is to contribute to a more holistic understanding of what small-scale fisheries are, their importance, and why they are essential to efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By using this knowledge wisely within a human rights-based approach in line with the SSF Guidelines, and by empowering small-scale fishers and fishworkers, a more inclusive, equitable, sustainable and resilient small-scale scale fisheries subsector can be achieved. Realizing this goal would benefit hundreds of thousands in fishing communities and society at large. With this in mind, the IHH report is aimed at all those with a stake or an interest in the small-scale fisheries subsector, in particular decision-makers who are concerned with fisheries, poverty eradication, food security and nutrition, and sustainable development more generally. It is also addressed to small-scale fisheries actors themselves and those who support them.

In Canada and around the world, new concerns with adaptive processes, feedback learning, and flexible partnerships are reshaping environmental governance. Meanwhile, ideas about collaboration and learning are converging around the idea of adaptive co-management. This book provides a comprehensive synthesis of the core concepts, strategies, and tools in this emerging field, informed by a diverse group of researchers and practitioners with over two decades of experience. It also offers a diverse set of case studies that reveal the challenges and implications of adaptive co-management thinking.

This document has been adapted from the research protocol used to compile country case study data and to produce the results summarized in the 2023 report titled Illuminating Hidden Harvests: The contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development (hereafter, IHH study) (FAO, Duke University & WorldFish, 2023). It has also been designed in conjunction with the e-learning course titled Collecting secondary data on small-scale fisheries, and aims to support practitioners and researchers around the world in compiling national and subnational data and assess the contributions and impacts of small-scale fisheries of interest to sustainable development. These contributions of small-scale fisheries are categorized according to the environmental, economic and social (including gender equality and nutrition and food security) dimensions of sustainable development, as well as the governance of small-scale fisheries. The approach to compile IHH data was developed in a way that: (i) is adaptable to each country’s context and data availability; and (ii) is comprehensive yet straightforward and cost-effective. While originally designed to be conducted at the national level, this approach can and should be modified as desired to fit different scales of study, and to respond to the particular needs and priorities of individual researchers’ regions of interest. As the name implies, the approach was designed to compile existing data on small-scale fisheries, and not to collect it. Rather, this approach only reinforces the importance of collecting more detailed data specific to small-scale fisheries (for example, as distinct from large-scale fisheries, aquaculture and recreational fisheries), in order to help fill the knowledge gap on small-scale fisheries’ contributions to sustainable development. Given the vast diversity of small-scale fisheries in different countries, a standard definition of “small-scale fisheries” is not prescribed here, nor in the IHH study; researchers should refer to the definitions used in each country context. However, to better characterize fisheries and the differences among them that often contribute to local definitions of small or large-scale fisheries, the IHH study and this approach used a fisheries activity characterization matrix. This tool provides a characterization of the small-scale fisheries subsector at the country level and allows researchers to assess the “scale” of small-scale fishing activities in a more relational manner, thus avoiding the imposition of fixed definitions.