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. 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 (the harvesting of naturally occurring living resources in marine and freshwater environments) production in 2001 was worth US $78 billion at first sale, and aquaculture (the controlled cultivation and harvest of aquatic plants and animals for consumption or sale) 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 for 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. The growth of aquaculture is an important development opportunity. Farmed fish now provides 43 percent of the fish eaten worldwide, compared to 9 percent in 1980.

Despite these benefits, the growth of the fishing industry brings several challenges. The dominant concern is declining fish catches. Bigger fish (such as swordfish, sturgeon and the Mekong Giant Catfish) have declined or even disappeared from many areas. 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 (the area of sea over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources). 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 displacing people from 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 out at sea. Tackling IUU fishing is an increasingly 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, as a result, do not benefit from state-delivered services such as health and education.

Many problems of resource access, management and fishing livelihoods relate to inadequate governance systems 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.

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 ways in which fisheries can contribute to poverty reduction (for example through exports), 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 surprisingly 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. Much current fisheries research and development activity focuses on Africa. 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.

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.

Successful governance should result in more sustainable catches. This will allow depleted stocks to recover and increase the value of the stocks. 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 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.

Source(s):
‘New Directions in Fisheries: Policy Briefs’, Food and Agriculture Organization/Department for International Development, Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme, 2006 Full document.
‘Fisheries and the Millennium Development Goals in Africa’, WorldFish Center, 2006 (PDF) Full document.
‘Saving Fish and Fishers: Building Sustainable and Equitable Fisheries and Governance’, World Bank, 2004 (PDF) Full document.

id21 Research Highlight: 17 November 2006

Further Information:
Edward H. Allison
School of Development Studies
University of East Anglia
Norwich, NR4 7TJ
UK

Contact the contributor: e.allison@uea.ac.uk

School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, UK

Other related links:
'Investing in Africa's fisheries'

'Time to tackle illegal fishing'

'Aquaculture: benefiting rural and urban people'

'The role of non-governmental organisations in fishing'

'Achieving a sustainable global fish trade'

'FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries'