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Illuminating Hidden Harvests

The contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development










FAO, Duke University & WorldFish. 2023. Illuminating Hidden Harvests – The contributions of small-scalefisheries to sustainable development. Rome. 




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    Booklet
    Illuminating Hidden Harvests: The contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development
    Executive summary
    2023
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    Illuminating Hidden Harvests: the contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development (hereinafter IHH) is a global study uncovering the contributions and impacts of small-scale fisheries through a multidisciplinary approach to data collection and analysis. The study provides information that quantifies and improves understanding of the crucial role of small-scale fisheries in the areas of food security and nutrition, sustainable livelihoods, poverty eradication and healthy ecosystems. It also examines gender equality as well as the nature and scope of governance in small-scale fisheries. The IHH study was carried out in support of the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines), themselves developed in recognition of the plight of small-scale fishers, fishworkers and associated communities and released as a contribution to the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022. This document provides the executive summary of the IHH study.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Applying the Illuminating Hidden Harvests approach
    Compiling data on the contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development
    2024
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    This document has been adapted from the research protocol used to compile country case study data and to produce the results summarized in the 2023 report titled Illuminating Hidden Harvests: The contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development (hereafter, IHH study) (FAO, Duke University & WorldFish, 2023). It has also been designed in conjunction with the e-learning course titled Collecting secondary data on small-scale fisheries, and aims to support practitioners and researchers around the world in compiling national and subnational data and assess the contributions and impacts of small-scale fisheries of interest to sustainable development. These contributions of small-scale fisheries are categorized according to the environmental, economic and social (including gender equality and nutrition and food security) dimensions of sustainable development, as well as the governance of small-scale fisheries. The approach to compile IHH data was developed in a way that: (i) is adaptable to each country’s context and data availability; and (ii) is comprehensive yet straightforward and cost-effective. While originally designed to be conducted at the national level, this approach can and should be modified as desired to fit different scales of study, and to respond to the particular needs and priorities of individual researchers’ regions of interest. As the name implies, the approach was designed to compile existing data on small-scale fisheries, and not to collect it. Rather, this approach only reinforces the importance of collecting more detailed data specific to small-scale fisheries (for example, as distinct from large-scale fisheries, aquaculture and recreational fisheries), in order to help fill the knowledge gap on small-scale fisheries’ contributions to sustainable development. Given the vast diversity of small-scale fisheries in different countries, a standard definition of “small-scale fisheries” is not prescribed here, nor in the IHH study; researchers should refer to the definitions used in each country context. However, to better characterize fisheries and the differences among them that often contribute to local definitions of small or large-scale fisheries, the IHH study and this approach used a fisheries activity characterization matrix. This tool provides a characterization of the small-scale fisheries subsector at the country level and allows researchers to assess the “scale” of small-scale fishing activities in a more relational manner, thus avoiding the imposition of fixed definitions.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Small-scale fisheries governance
    A handbook in support of the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication
    2024
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    The small-scale fisheries subsector is a crucial provider of livelihoods, nutrition, and food security to millions of people all over the world. However, small-scale fishers, fishworkers and their communities face many challenges, including lack of recognition, limited participation in decision-making, unsustainable use of aquatic resources, climate change impacts and conflicting interests with other sectors.The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) are the first international instrument entirely dedicated to small-scale fisheries and provide guidance on how to address existing challenges in the subsector. One of the key areas discussed in the SSF Guidelines is the need for an enabling environment that promotes good governance.This publication, Small-scale fisheries governance – A handbook in support of the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication, was based on a number of training courses on governance in small-scale fisheries. It offers an overview of the SSF Guidelines and guidance on their implementation in particular with regard to good governance and the enabling environment needed.

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