The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020

partners have supported the development 
of an accident and fatality reporting system 
for fisheries in the Caribbean, as well as a 
capacity-building programme on safety at sea 
for small-scale fishers there (
Box 14
). In addition, 
in close collaboration with the Bay of Bengal 
Programme Inter-Governmental Organisation, 
FAO has developed practical manuals on safety 
at sea for small-scale fishers in South Asia and 
the Caribbean (FAO, 2019c). 
Social security, decent work and
the link to IUU fishing
Social protection is a key instrument to 
address fishers’ specific vulnerabilities and 
risks. However, as other rural poor, fishers are 
often neglected by national social protection 
policies and programmes. In five Mediterranean 
countries, FAO reviewed small-scale fishers’ 
access to social protection systems, identifying 
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THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 
2020
several success stories, but also areas for 
improvement (FAO, 2019d). One such area is 
the collection of data on small-scale fishers, 
which need to be systemized, including data 
on the most vulnerable and post-harvest 
workers. Where programmes to address fishers’ 
vulnerability exist, coverage could be expanded 
by facilitating flexible contribution options. 
Such arrangements should be sensitive to the 
seasonality of fishing operations and fluctuating 
incomes of fishers and fishworkers.
Successful cases demonstrate social protection 
schemes as integral elements of the sector 
development strategy – linking formalization, 
fishing licensing and access to market. The review 
also suggests that fishers’ organizations are key 
actors for strengthening and complementing state 
provision of social security.
At the regional level, social protection and decent 
work have become integral elements of the 
ten-year Regional Plan of Action for Small-scale 
Fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. 
Prospective areas of work include analysis to 
better understand and promote the role of social 
protection in fisheries management. This will 
be coupled with continuous advocacy and 
Safety-at-sea incidents in small-scale fisheries are all 
too frequent, but safety requirements, regulations and 
training are not always tailored for small-scale fishers. 
In Tokelau, a territory comprising three atolls in the 
Pacific Ocean, fishing is not just a source of food and 
nutrition, but a way of life. FAO and Maritime New 
Zealand are working with local communities on a 
programme to improve safety at sea for small-scale 
fishers. The programme includes the provision of 
appropriate safety gear, training on the use of gear, and 
safety education at schools. It also includes training on 
engine repair and maintenance, as engine breakdown 
is a primary reason for small vessels finding themselves 
in difficulty. The programme integrates new community-
identified solutions into existing practices. 
With FAO support, local communities identified the 
appropriate technologies and tools to include in safety 
“grab bags” for use on the small-scale vessels. Gear-
related safety challenges were identified and 
recommendations made to incorporate traditional 
practices and seafaring skills into the new safety-at-sea 
awareness-raising and training programmes. 
In Tokelau, young fishers are tested on their 
knowledge and understanding of fishing and 
navigation through the “kaukumete” ceremony. If 
successful, they may become a “tautai” (master fisher). 
The tautai and the local community have been engaged 
in a community consultation on gaps in safety practices 
and requirements for safety gear for vessels fishing 
beyond the lagoon. 
In the Caribbean, FAO has developed a training 
package and organized (together with the FISH Safety 
Foundation) a train-the-trainer session for coastguard, 
navy and fisheries trainers on safety at sea for small-
scale fishers. The training package is flexible and 
offers a range of modules (emergency preparation, 
outboard-engine repair and maintenance, safety risk 
management, boat handling, first aid, communication, 
etc.). 
Across the Caribbean, almost 600 fishers have 
received specific training on information and 
communications technology (ICT), supported by FAO in 
2019–2020, focusing on the three most important 
devices to safety at sea for small-scale fishers: VHF 
radio, Global Positioning System (GPS) and cell 
phones. FAO has trained small-scale fishers through 
performing drills on the radio, GPS and cell phones in 
class and at sea. Many fishers have a VHF radio, but 
are unaware of the correct procedure for making a 
distress call. They might not know how to find, read or 
communicate their GPS location to rescue agents, such 
as the coastguard. The new skill – to communicate their 
location correctly – is critical for swift and urgent 
rescue when fishers are caught in emergencies at sea.
BOX 14
TAILORING SAFETY-AT-SEA TRAINING TO SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES IN THE PACIFIC
AND CARIBBEAN
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PART 2 
SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION
policy-support work to help countries achieve 
commitments towards SDG Target 1.3.
18
Tackling IUU fishing can also help combat the 
drivers of substandard working conditions. 
With overfishing and rising costs in many fishing 
fleets, many operators have pared labour costs 
and sacrificed working standards. In supporting 
the uptake of international standards, FAO 
and partners organized seminars in Asia, the 
South West Indian Ocean, and West Africa to 
promote safety in fisheries and decent work 
(FAO, 2019e). The meetings led to calls for 
improved cooperation between safety, labour 
and fisheries authorities. Other actions called 
for included preventing labour and human rights 
abuses in the sector, and greater attention to the 
specificities of small-scale fishers.
Bycatch and discards
In 2019, FAO published its third assessment 
of global marine fisheries discards (Pérez 
Roda 
et al
., 2019), which adopted the “fishery 
by fishery” approach followed in the second 
assessment (published in 2005). The new 
assessment includes, among others: an estimate 
of annual discards by marine commercial 
fisheries for the period 2010–14; an evaluation 
and discussion of bycatch and discards of 
endangered, threatened and protected species; 
and a review of current measures for managing 
bycatch (
Box 15
) and reduction of discards. 
It contains two new outcomes on bycatch and 
discards in global marine capture fisheries: 
„
an annual discard quantity of about 9.1 million 
tonnes (10.1 percent of annual catches), 
of which 4.2 million tonnes from bottom 
trawls, 1.0 million tonnes from purse seines, 
0.9 million tonnes from midwater trawls, and 
0.8 million tonnes from gillnet fisheries; 
„
an annual estimate of fisheries interactions 
with at least 20 million individuals 
of endangered, threatened and/or 
protected species.
Assessing progress in reducing discards is 
a challenge because no coherent time series 
18
SDG Target 1.3: Implement nationally appropriate social 
protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 
achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
of discard rates at the global level can be 
constructed on the basis of the series of FAO 
assessments. Therefore, it is not possible to 
estimate temporal trends in discard levels. 
However, the assessment indicates an increase 
in reporting of discards by government 
agencies in the last ten years. This may 
include country-specific reports, reporting and 
minimizing discards as required by third-party 
certification schemes, and the consequential 
increase in the number and scale of onboard 
observer and electronic monitoring programmes.
Regarding interactions with endangered, 
threatened and/or protected species, solid data 
are lacking for many fisheries and from many