COVID-19 highlights the need to improve resilience and equity in managing small-scale fisheries

Sangeeta Mangubhai; Carolina Olguín-Jacobson; Anthony Charles; Joshua Cinner; Asha de Vos; Rachel T Graham; Gaku Ishimura; Katherine E Mills; Josheena Naggea; Daniel K Okamoto; Jennifer K O'Leary; Anne K Salomon; U Rashid Sumaila; Alan White; Fiorenza Micheli

doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00100-7

COVID-19 highlights the need to improve resilience and equity in managing small-scale fisheries

NPJ Ocean Sustain. 2024;3(1):61. doi: 10.1038/s44183-024-00100-7. Epub 2024 Dec 19.

Authors

Sangeeta Mangubhai¹, Carolina Olguín-Jacobson², Anthony Charles³, Joshua Cinner⁴, Asha de Vos⁵, Rachel T Graham⁶, Gaku Ishimura⁷, Katherine E Mills⁸, Josheena Naggea^{9

10}, Daniel K Okamoto¹¹, Jennifer K O'Leary¹², Anne K Salomon¹³, U Rashid Sumaila¹⁴, Alan White¹⁵, Fiorenza Micheli^{2

9}

Affiliations

¹ Talanoa Consulting, Suva, Fiji.
² Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA USA.
³ School of the Environment & Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, NS Canada.
⁴ Thriving Oceans Research Hub, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW Australia.
⁵ Oceanswell, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
⁶ MarAlliance, Panama City, Panama.
⁷ Iwate University, Iwate, Japan.
⁸ Gulf of Maine Research Institute, Portland, ME USA.
⁹ Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA.
¹⁰ Charles Telfair Centre, Charles Telfair Campus, Moka, 80829 Mauritius.
¹¹ Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA.
¹² Wildlife Conservation Society, Mombasa, Kenya.
¹³ School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC Canada.
¹⁴ Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada.
¹⁵ Marine Resource Consultant, Honolulu, HI USA.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of global and domestic seafood markets. We examined the main impacts and responses of the small-scale fisheries (SSF) sector, and found that mitigation and preparedness strategies should be prioritised to boost resilience in SSF. We provide five policy options and considerations: (1) improving access to insurance and financial services; (2) strengthening local and regional markets and supporting infrastructure; (3) recognising fisheries as an essential service; (4) integrating disaster risk management into fisheries management systems; and (5) investing in Indigenous and locally-led fisheries management. Response and recovery measures need to explicitly build strategies to maintain or boost inclusion and equity in SSF.

Keywords: Environmental sciences; Environmental studies.

Publication types

Review