The potential and importance of small-scale fisheries has been increasingly recognized over the past decade. Making this happen should be high on the agenda at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon this month.Īs someone who has studied food security and policymaking for decades, here I suggest ways to support and strengthen artisanal fishing operations. Managed with care, however, small fisheries could provide win–wins for livelihoods and the environment. If they do scale up, they might lose some of their current advantages or engage in the same harmful practices as do large commercial fisheries.

Small fishers rarely have the right resources to expand their operations, or even to survive. So, whereas large-scale operators land more fish, small-scale fisheries provide a larger share of the fish that is actually consumed. By contrast, around 20% of the fish caught by industrial fleets is estimated to be wasted, mainly because of unwanted by-catch 4. Almost everything that hand-to-mouth fisheries catch is consumed.

What’s more, these fisheries can be remarkably efficient. Small operations tend to deliver both food and income directly to the people who need them most, and locals have a strong incentive to make their practices sustainable. Success will depend on small-scale fisheries. Last year, international efforts promoting this approach included the Blue Food Assessment (a joint initiative of 25 research institutions) and the United Nations Food Systems Summit. Globally, fish consumption is set to rise by around 15% by 2030 2.Īlthough ocean ecosystems are strained by climate change, overfishing and more, studies nevertheless suggest that seafood can be expanded sustainably to meet future food demands 3. Already, Africa and Asia have seen fish production double over the past few decades. For the least-developed countries, fish contributes about 29% of animal protein intake in other developing countries, it accounts for 19% 1.Īs the global population increases, the demand for seafood is expected to rise, too. For some 17% of the world’s population, fisheries and aquaculture provide the main source of animal protein. More than three billion people rely on the ocean to make a living, most of whom are in developing countries.

Fishing planet map scale