The importance of fisheries for development

The increasing global demand for fish puts pressure on wild resources. This threatens the contribution of fisheries to poverty reduction and nutritional security in developing countries. Can these trends be reversed?

Declining fish stocks and degraded aquatic environments are easily overlooked in debates about sustainable development. This issue of id21 insights aims to bring these challenges forward. It examines the problems facing the fisheries sector and shows possible ways to address them.

Fisheries and development

More than 200 million people worldwide are fishworkers, which is just under three percent of the global agricultural labour force. Over 90 percent live in developing countries, working in small-scale, household-based or artisanal fishing enterprises. Global capture fisheries production in 2001 was worth US$ 78 billion at first sale, and aquaculture (fish farming) was worth US$ 60 billion in 2002.

Fisheries contribute to economic growth and human welfare in many poor countries:

• Fish are an important source of nutrients, protein, fatty acids and minerals, particularly where fish consumption is high.
• Fish landing sites and ports are often the focus for local growth and centres for markets and cash economies.
• Fishing incomes support service industries, and mobile fishing groups are important buyers of agricultural produce in areas remote from other markets.

More than 50 percent of fish production is traded internationally, with a net flow from developing to developed countries. John Kurien discusses how to manage the fish trade so that it could benefit poor people.

The growth of aquaculture is another important development opportunity. Farmed fish now provides 43 percent of the fish eaten worldwide, compared to 9 percent in 1980. David Little highlights the benefits of the recent growth in aquaculture in southeast Asia, with implications for other developing regions.

A global fisheries crisis?

Despite these benefits, the growth of the fishing industry brings several challenges. The main concern is declining fish catches. Bigger fish (such as swordfish, sturgeon and the Mekong Giant Catfish) have declined or even disappeared from many regions. In many areas, boats now go further out to sea (or up river), fish for longer and use more or larger fishing gear. Industrialised fishing fleets often head towards countries with limited capacity to monitor their activities, or to negotiate fair payments for resources in their Exclusive Economic Zones. Management regimes have often failed to work, even in richer countries.

There is also increasing competition and conflict. For example, aquaculture can have environmental and social impacts - shrimp farming attracts criticism for destroying mangroves and preventing people from using coastal resources. Many fisheries lose value through illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing. This demonstrates wider problems with compliance and regulation in globalised industries, particularly those that take place at sea. As David Agnew reports, tackling IUU fishing is an urgent priority for governments and fisheries organisations.

Fishing people are often labelled 'the poorest of the poor', but fishing incomes can be higher than wages from farm labour. However, many people in fishing communities live in deprived conditions. Vulnerability to natural hazards (such as floods and storms) is high, due to physical exposure and vulnerable livelihoods. Many settlements are temporary and unofficial, and do not benefit from state-delivered services such as health and education.

New approaches to managing fisheries

Many of these problems relate to poor governance and a past failure by national governments and international financial institutions to recognise and value the contributions of fisheries. Addressing governance failure is the focus of much present support for fisheries development.

Fisheries governance is changing, with attempts to combine participatory, local-level management and improve market management with a set of global principles and codes. A key initiative is the 1995 Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. David Doulman and Rolf Willmann explain how it has developed and how it is applied today.

Fisheries management organisations and fishing communities are determined to find innovative solutions to the formidable challenges facing the sector. As well as addressing the challenges identified, fisheries management must consider influences outside the sector. These include climate change, demographic change, water resources management and future changes in food production and trade.

Engaging with wider development initiatives is particularly important. For example, the FAO's Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programmes in west and central Africa are considering how fisheries can contribute to poverty reduction, improve the welfare of fisherfolk and sustain resources.

The move towards local management of aquatic resources is critical. This could improve compliance with international regulations (such as the FAO Code of Conduct) and empower small-scale fishing communities, who are often socially and politically marginalised. Non-governmental organisations could play an important role, but few have been involved in the sector. This is because the specialised, technical nature of fishery management, and the limited attention to social issues, meant that there was little information available on poverty and social exclusion in the sector. Brian O'Riordan introduces the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers, which advocates the interests of small-scale fisherfolk.

Much current fisheries research focuses on Africa. Sloans Chimatiro explains how the New Partnership for African Development's Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Programme aims to manage Africa's wild fish resources and guide investments into aquaculture.

The future for fisheries

Much depends now on the success of efforts to improve governance, particularly in capture fisheries. Aquaculture is likely to become increasingly important in reducing the gap between supply and demand, but this industry will need to observe social and environmental issues. In coastal areas and high seas, the number of workers in fishing may decrease, because of the move towards larger-scale, export-focused industries.

Effective governance should result in more sustainable catches. This will allow depleted stocks to recover and increase in value. Small-scale fishing, which has considerable poverty and livelihood implications, will remain a vital part of development strategies. This sector needs greater recognition and effective and equitable management.

To achieve a sustainable fishing sector that contributes to poverty reduction and improves livelihoods, policymakers should:

• recognise the great potential of this sector for future benefits, and the vulnerability of fisherfolk to ineffective policies and poor management
• ensure that fisheries are fairly represented in wider social and economic development processes, such as national poverty reduction strategies
• promote the inclusion of fishing communities in programmes to improve rural social services
• work towards greater policy coherence, both within the fisheries sector and with water, agriculture, trade and coastal zone planning sectors.

Edward H. Allison
School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
e.allison@uea.ac.uk

See also

New Directions in Fisheries: Policy Briefs, Food and Agriculture Organization/Department for International Development, Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme, 2006
www.sflp.org/briefs/eng/policybriefs.html

Fisheries and the Millennium Development Goals in Africa, WorldFish Center, 2006 (PDF)
www.fishforall.org/ffa-summit/English/FisheriesMDGs_22_8_lowres.pdf

Saving Fish and Fishers: Building Sustainable and Equitable Fisheries and Governance, World Bank, 2004 (PDF)
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTARD/
Resources/SavingFishandFishers.pdf

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