Resources

Guidelines for Supporting Fishery Improvement Projects

With the 2022 update, the Guidelines explain how FIPs create opportunities to drive change through collective public-private action to address human rights and labor rights issues. To identify social risks, the Guidelines recommend that FIPs use the Social Responsibility Assessment Tool for the Seafood Sector (SRA), a rapid assessment tool that FIPs can use to identify areas of risk related to social issues, or similar tool.

Blue finance guidance notes: Aquaculture insurance for small-scale producers

This brochure describes why aquaculture insurance is important for the sustainable development and management of the sector. It discusses the benefits of aquaculture insurance and challenges in making aquaculture insurance accessible to small-scale producers.

Blue finance guidance notes: Microfinance for small-scale fisheries

This brochure describes why microfinance is important for small-scale fisheries and aquaculture and gives insight in microfinance and how it works.

Financing fisheries in Africa: Case studies from the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia

This brochure presents two case studies of institutions successfully providing financial services to small-scale fisheries in Africa. The two case studies were identified during a regional market demand and supply survey of financial service provision to small scale fishers, carried out by the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA) and the Global network for capacity building to increase access of small-scale fisheries to financial services (CAFI-SSF).

Financing fisheries in Africa: Financial services provision to small-scale fisheries

This brochure presents the main findings of a survey held among financial services providers (FSPs) in Africa about their supply of services to small-scale fishers and aquaculture producers.

Fish Handling and Hygiene Training Manual

The SWIOTUNA Training Manual for Fish Quality, Safety & Handling provides easy-to- use information for guiding Small Scale fishers towards the improvement of quality and safety of fish and fishery products, through promoting good hygiene practices and good manufacturing practices.

SWIOTUNA Success Stories Booklet

This booklet presents key highlights on the issues, interventions and achievements of SWIOTUNA and other relevant CSO and NSA in the management of marine fisheries resources in their respective countries and regions in the SWIO.

Direct-to-Consumer Strategies for Seafood: The Landscape, Challenges, and Opportunities since COVID-19

This report categorizes the different types of direct-to-consumer [D2C] models that currently exist within the seafood sector, and evaluates their respective strengths and weaknesses, the enabling conditions important for certain models to thrive, as well as barriers to scale and growth. The goal is to provide insight into how these models may affect the way wild capture seafood is bought and sold around the world, and in particular, the impact this may have on social and environmentally responsible seafood initiatives.

Global Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Seafood Industry

For nearly two years, local, regional, and global fisheries and seafood supply chains have been forced to adjust and adapt to the unprecedented conditions brought on by the COVID-19 global pandemic.

This study seeks to synthesize the complex conditions and outcomes to date, and provide an overview of the current landscape of change. Within that landscape we explore which trends or pa terns emerged simply as stop gaps in a moment of crisis, and which shifts are likely to last in the long-term.

Market System Selection - Participatory market system development in conservation

In Market System Selection, you will find guidance on how to select a single, or small number of market systems, to focus your energy on.

Small-scale fisheries and sustainable development

Key findings from the Illuminating Hidden Harvests report - This brief presents the main results from the Illuminating Hidden Harvests (IHH) report, providing new, clearer insights to support the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) and progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Skipper's Guidebook to Pole-And-Line Fishing Best Practices

A guidebook detailing best-practices for maximising catch value and also minimising the environmental impacts of pole-and-line tuna fisheries is published by the International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF) and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF).

Post-harvest practices for empowering women in small-scale fisheries in Africa

Post-harvest challenges faced by small-scale fisheries stakeholders have been the focus of numerous projects, programmes and investments in Africa. Many of these initiatives have aimed to benefit women, who often dominate processing and trade activities.

This report provides a summary of key findings from a desk review and primary data research that has aimed to identify successful post-harvest initiatives related to infrastructure design and management, improved post-harvest technology, value addition and access to finance.

Advancing Gender in the Environment: Gender in Fisheries – A Sea of Opportunity

This guide provides an overview of the unique roles and contributions women make in the wild-caught fisheries sector. The guide also explains how persistent gender inequalities limit women’s economic empowerment, and increased risks of gender-based violence negatively impact the potential of women to thrive and contribute towards strong economies.

International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022 Global Action Plan

The IYAFA 2022 Global Action Plan (IYAFA GAP) aims at building global momentum to empower small-scale artisanal fisheries and aquaculture and securing a sustainable future for these important sectors. Outlined here are a series of indicative and interconnected actions that are mutually reinforcing in the pillars of work.

Linkages between the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication and the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition

This brief is part of a series that brings attention to the mutually reinforcing nature of four global normative instruments developed through the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and the SSF Guidelines. Their synergistic implementation can make a difference in enabling small-scale fisheries actors to contribute to sustainable food systems by providing highly nutritious food for local communities, and it can make a difference for consumers in national, regional and international markets.

Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture for food security and nutrition

This report addresses a frequently overlooked but extremely important part of world food and nutrition security: the role and importance of fish in seeking food and nutrition security for all. Fisheries and aquaculture have often been arbitrarily separated from other parts of the food and agricultural systems in food security studies, debates and policy-making.

The contribution of small-scale artisanal fisheries and aquaculture to food systems

Infographic on the contribution of small-scale artisanal fisheries and aquaculture to food systems.

No hidden catch - Mainstreaming values of small-scale fisheries in national accounts

It is notoriously difficult to obtain data for fisheries, especially for the more elusive small-scale sector, which tends to operate under the radar. These guidelines aim to assist national statistics officers and others improve the way they account for small-scale fisheries (SSF).

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a queen conch (Aliger gigas) fishery in The Bahamas

The onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in early 2020 led to a dramatic rise in unemployment and fears about food-security throughout the Caribbean region. Subsistence fisheries were one of the few activities permitted during emergency lockdown in The Bahamas, leading many to turn to the sea for food. This study highlights the role of small-scale fisheries as a ‘natural insurance’ against socio-economic shocks and a source of resilience for small island communities at times of crisis. It also underscores the risks to food security and long-term sustainability of fishery stocks posed by overexploitation of natural resources.