The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020

participation of small-scale fishers in fisheries 
management, through co-management 
arrangements, is key to providing access to 
marine living aquatic resources. The evolving 
paradigm of blue economy / blue growth needs 
to address these challenges to ensure inclusive 
development for all. 
Regarding market access, better opportunities for 
small-scale fishers and their products do exist. 
Approaches and tools are available to overcome 
issues, such as compliance with food safety 
regulations, the lack of appropriate technology, 
such as improved processing, information and 
communication technology, and low levels of 
organizational capacity, to ensure small-scale 
fisheries actors benefit fully from access to 
lucrative markets. Key tools to help achieve 
SDG Target 14.b are: capacity development of 
fishers and fishworkers, including for women 
engaged in post-harvest activities; technical 
assistance; and information dissemination 
regarding market access requirements and 
markets. 
Box 17
provides an example of a 
regional effort in the Maghreb in support of 
small-scale fisheries.
This requires a regulatory framework and an 
enabling environment that recognize and protect 
small-scale fishers’ rights to access fisheries 
resources and build their capacity to access 
markets. Such an enabling environment has three 
key features: 
„
appropriate legal, regulatory and 
policy frameworks; 
„
specific initiatives to support 
small-scale fisheries;
„
related institutional mechanisms that 
allow for the participation of small-scale 
fisheries organizations in management and 
related processes. 
SDG Indicator 14.b.1 (Progress by countries in 
the degree of application of a legal/regulatory/
policy/institutional framework that recognizes 
and protects access rights for small-scale 
fishers) is a tool for countries to track progress 
towards SDG Target 14.b. It is based on three 
questions of the FAO Questionnaire on the 
Implementation of the Code of Conduct for 
Responsible Fisheries and Related Instruments 
that Members and RFBs complete every two 
years (see the section Progress on the road to 
sustainability, p. 96). The three questionnaire 
questions used for SDG Indicator 14.b.1 
reporting are proxies for capturing efforts 
to promote and facilitate access rights for 
small-scale fishers. More specifically, they 
relate to: 
„
laws, regulations, policies, plans or strategies 
that target or address the small-scale 
fisheries sector;
„
ongoing initiatives to implement the 
SSF Guidelines;
„
mechanisms through which small-scale 
fishers and fishworkers contribute to 
decision-making processes.
Figure 47
summarizes results of reporting 
against these three questions in 2018 at the 
regional level. 
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PART 2 
SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION
As custodian agency for SDG Indicator 14.b.1, 
FAO is assisting Members and other partners 
to better understand, monitor and report on 
SDG Target 14.b (FAO, 2019j). An e-learning 
course is available online in six languages 
and has been used in two workshops, one at 
the global level in 2017 and one for the Pacific 
region in 2019. One outcome of the latter was 
the recognition that the region has a number 
of relevant frameworks, in particular the New 
Song (the Noumea Strategy, 2015) for Coastal 
Fisheries, for which information is regularly 
collected (Pacific Community, 2019). Thus, there 
is an opportunity to strengthen synergies 
between the New Song and SDG Indicator 14.b.1 
reporting process.
In 2011, the Twenty-ninth Session of the Committee on 
Fisheries called for the development of an international 
instrument for small-scale fisheries. As a result, FAO 
organized numerous consultations with fisherfolk 
organizations, governmental organizations, regional 
fishery bodies, academia, research institutions and 
civil society at the global, regional and national scale. 
This work led to the adoption in 2014 of the Voluntary 
Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale 
Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty 
Eradication (SSF Guidelines).
1
In the Mediterranean, the General Fisheries 
Commission for the Mediterranean supported a 
number of dedicated small-scale fisheries events (a 
symposium, a regional consultation and a regional 
workshop). These efforts culminated in the signing of 
the Regional Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries 
in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea,
2
which set 
out concrete actions in line with the SSF Guidelines 
to support sustainable small-scale fisheries in the 
period 2018–2028. Governments and civil society 
organizations have also been actively contributing 
to these processes in the North Africa subregion. 
Created in 2014, the Maghreb Platform for 
Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries brings together the 
national small-scale fisheries networks of Algeria, 
Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. With the support 
of FAO, it has been playing a significant role in 
advocating for achieving the objectives of 
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 14.b 
(Provide access for small-scale artisanal fishers to 
marine resources and markets), by implementing 
field projects and promoting the SSF Guidelines. 
Other related subregional activities working to 
secure sustainable small-scale fisheries are being 
implemented by the General Fisheries Commission 
for the Mediterranean, by the FAO Blue Hope 
Initiative in the Mediterranean Sea and by the FAO 
Mediterranean fisheries management support 
projects MedSudMed and CopeMed II. These are 
contributing to improving knowledge on small-scale 
fisheries, the role of small-scale fisheries 
communities in sustainable fisheries management, 
and blue growth processes. In particular, FAO is 
supporting countries in the socio-economic 
characterization of small-scale fisheries, the spatial 
mapping of fishing activities, and the involvement of 
small-scale fisheries in a multi-stakeholder discussion 
toward fisheries management based on the 
ecosystem approach to fisheries. 
Future FAO efforts will focus on a subregional 
inventory of the sector in order to complement 
previous and ongoing activities to secure sustainable 
small-scale fisheries in North Africa. The overall scope 
of the inventory is to obtain a clear picture of the 
status of the small-scale fisheries sector and to identify 
fishing grounds and the most sustainable and 
economic viable fishing methods to support the 
achievement of SDG Target 14.b in the subregion.
BOX 17
SECURING SUSTAINABLE SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES IN NORTH AFRICA: SUPPORTING STRONG 
SUBREGIONAL MOMENTUM 
1
FAO. 2015. 
Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication
. Rome. 30 pp.
(also available at www.fao.org/3/a-i4356en.pdf).
2
General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). 2020. Regional Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea - RPOA-SSF.
In: 
FAO
[online]. [Cited 14 February 2020]. www.fao.org/gfcm/activities/fisheries/small-scale-fisheries/rpoa-ssf
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THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 
2020
The workshops concluded that there is a need for 
a participatory approach to finding information 
at the national level to be able to respond to 
the questionnaire in a responsible manner. 
There are many sources of information at 
different scales, and the information collection 
process should be multidisciplinary and use a 
bottom-up approach where local stakeholders’ 
information and knowledge are collected and 
aggregated at the national level for reporting. 
There was a call to support small-scale fisheries 
organizations and platforms to allow for 
their effective participation in the processes. 
Ensuring efficient communication between those 
in charge of responding to the questionnaire and 
national SDG focal points was also identified 
as a priority. Moreover, development partners, 
such as NGOs, should be consulted along with 
communities and small-scale fisheries actors; 
and regional organizations also have a role in 
facilitating data collection efforts for reporting on 
SDG Indicator 14.b.1. 
The workshops revealed that the reporting 
process is helpful in understanding needs 
and opportunities for moving towards 
securing sustainable small-scale fisheries, 
and identifying actions and processes 
for implementing the SSF Guidelines. 
The SSF Guidelines provide a framework for 
action towards achieving SDG Target 14.b, in