Citizen 3 – Kei, village chief and retired fisher
The subsistence fishers have really struggled, but it’s not too late to
turn things around. Many fishers are now involved in the edible seaweed
industry. We have developed sustainable seaweed food chains which
provide reliable access to fresh food as well as incomes. There are many
native seaweeds that are high in fibre and micronutrients such as
iodine, zinc and magnesium. People ate seaweed a long time ago, and we
have worked hard to restore and understand traditional use and knowledge
of these seaweeds. Women’s organisations across the region are involved
in seaweed wild harvest and nutrition and cookery programs. The women
also had the idea to make fish-based powder, using fish, salt and other
ingredients bought locally. The fish powder extends the shelf life of
fish and can be added to rice porridge. It tastes good and provides
important nutrients, particularly for our youngest children. The fish
powder is used at home but also in feeding programs at primary schools
and in hospitals.
Pathway 2 - Sustainably manage marine and coastal ecosystems
The number of fisheries considered overfished has reduced since 2020 as
a result of greater collaboration and data sharing between management
organisations, improved monitoring of national fleets, greater
government and industry commitment to sustainability and improved
capacity in the development and implementation of fisheries management
frameworks (Hilborn et al. 2020). Major fleets now have e-monitoring
systems widely implemented allowing for real time monitoring and
documentation of catches (Mangi et al. 2015). Fishery management has
become flexible and adaptive to deal with changing oceans (Costello et
al. 2016; Dutra et al. 2019; Gaines et al. 2018; Mahon and Fanning 2019;
Rudolph et al. 2020). There has also been a strong focus on
establishing, or transitioning, national fisheries management into
sustainable and adaptive frameworks focused on maintaining ecosystem
structure and function, as well as recognising cultural values with a
broader outcome that balances enhancing productivity with ensuring
equity in access to resources (Allison et al. 2020). Management plans
allow coordination across gear-based or polyvalent fleets to achieve a
balanced harvest in high-income countries, and new co-management
arrangements have been introduced in low-income countries (Eriksson et
al. 2016; Zhou et al. 2010). Beneficial subsidies remain but there has
been firm global action to prohibit subsidies that contribute to
overfishing or that are linked to illegal, unreported or unregulated
fishing (Young 2017), including enshrining these principles in World
Trade Organisation decisions and other international agreements.
Integrating planning, regulatory frameworks, marine resource allocation
and food policies has helped to ensure sustainable seafood production,
which in turn has provided a strong and equitable economic basis for
development in local communities (Sale et al. 2014). Damaging fishing
and mariculture practices have been eliminated as a result of increased
regulation, enforcement, education and traceability. Increased
transparency has translated to improvements in corporate responsibility
and accountability, including clear goals and structures in place to
ensure implementation (Packer et al. 2019).
Fishers’ capacity to dynamically tailor their behaviour to align with
ecosystem objectives has increased as a result of greater awareness of
ecosystem-based and integrated management objectives, social
expectations and export market requirements (Smith et al. 2017). Small
Island Developing States and low-income countries have benefited from
improved management of fisheries, mariculture and tourism. This benefit
has occurred primarily through a combination of investment in capability
development, implementation of management frameworks and policies and
revision of fleets, and corporate incentives aimed at developing
stronger public private partnerships with developing countries
(Weirowski and Hall 2008). The number of Traditional and Indigenous
managed fisheries accessing markets has increased (Cohen and Foale 2013)
(Box 2), improving both production of seafood and ecosystem biodiversity
in these regions and empowering communities in decision making processes
that support long-term sustainability (Borrini-Feyerabend and Campese
2017; IPBES 2019).