What development pros need to know about fisheries and aquaculture

With aquatic animal production expected to reach 205 million metric tons by 2032, the potential of aquatic foods to contribute to food security, nutrition, and poverty reduction is increasingly recognized across global forums. Fisheries and aquaculture are critical elements for global food security, said Carlos Fuentevilla, fishery officer for technical program coordination with the Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO. For 40% of the global population, aquatic foods provide at least 20% of their total animal protein supply, and this figure is much higher in some countries, he said. Fuentevilla’s team works to prioritize and address the needs of countries, as well as coordinate the agency’s Blue Transformation vision. There’s a significant increase in recognition of the role of aquatic food in achieving several of the SDGs, Fuentevilla said, with more discussions around these products in national adaptation plans, national food security policies, and nutritional strategies. There’s also a lot of research and money going into aquaculture, and it’s an area of interest to many governments, he added. Devex finds out what development professionals need to know about working in fisheries and aquaculture. Learn to engage with diverse stakeholders Addressing the challenges facing the sector involves a wide range of stakeholders — from small-scale fisheries to local and national governments and businesses at all stages of the value chain. Small-scale fisheries, often based in rural communities, face obstacles in participating in decision-making and accessing resources and services, said Fuentevilla. Even though “they are significant contributors to local food security, it’s very challenging to try to improve the management of their livelihoods,” he continued, so their inputs are critical. Additionally, fisheries and aquaculture don’t always sit solely within agricultural government departments, so various entities, including environmental and financial, have a role to play, as well as navies and coast guards for enforcement, along with civil societies and NGOs, Fuentevilla explained. Irna Sari is a consultant on fisheries management, small-scale fisheries value chain, and livelihood development. Currently working with an international foundation, Sari builds and manages the necessary relationships to support coral fisheries in Indonesia in establishing research and conservation practices. Strong relations with the government are critical to facilitate technical capacity building, policy analysis and guidance, and identifying incentives to improve economic development and management, she explained. When it comes to engaging stakeholders throughout the supply chain, women are important but often overlooked, according to Sari. They play a significant role in various stages of small-scale fishery production, but interventions often lack the considerations to transform the norms and facilitate the participation of women, she said. Harrison Karisa is a senior fisheries specialist for aquaculture at the World Bank Group. He co-leads the PROBLUE-funded AquaInvest Advisory Platform to support governments and the private sector to assist aquaculture development, strengthen livelihoods, and enhance food and nutrition security. In many countries, there is a desire for the private sector to play a bigger role and provide investment where strained governments can’t, he said. As a result, Karisa’s team works with colleagues from the International Finance Corporation. Other key players include environmentalists to ensure practices are sustainable, and businesses throughout the value chain, such as hatchery managers and feed producers. A lot of the work is about being “ready to speak to people, enabling them to understand what we are doing … [and] how important [fisheries and aquaculture] are,” said Karisa. In the early days of his career, aquaculture work was often met with confusion and skepticism. However, he has noticed that attitudes are shifting, and there is now a greater understanding of the importance of the sector and sustainable practices. New technologies are changing the sector With more than 17,000 islands across Indonesia, there are also thousands of fisheries, the majority of which are small-scale, said Sari. This, coupled with the complexity of the supply chain, can make it challenging to gather the strong data needed to inform measures, she added. Globally, significant data gaps make it difficult to know how much fish is in the ocean and who consumes it, according to Fuentevilla. Illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing exacerbate this problem. While the sector has traditionally been slow in adapting to new technologies, particularly the fishing sector, Fuentevilla is optimistic about the uptake of technology for monitoring, control, and surveillance purposes, among other things. He explained that remote sensing and advanced artificial intelligence models, for instance, are improving the understanding and predictions of vessel movement. Some regions and islands have also seen a “big jump” in fishermen using mobile apps to report data, access market prices, and sell their catch online, he continued, while technologies and practices which have been used in Asia and making their way to Africa and enhancing information sharing. “There’s a lot of space for new young people to come in,” he said, noting a colleague who is a geographic information systems expert and using remote sensing and online tools to identify previously unrecorded landing sites and coastal communities. Karisa also believes there are some fascinating changes happening in the aquaculture sector. “Both fisheries and aquaculture have seen a lot of automation, which should help us,” he said. Innovations aiding the aquaculture sector include technologies for breeding fish further from the sea to reduce lice exposure, robotic systems that clean cages, and recirculating aquatic systems to help farmers predict changes in the management of their fish stocks. Additionally, cameras are being utilized to estimate fish weights with precision, and technology is enabling more efficient DNA analysis. The experts agreed that climate change is another major challenge facing the fishing and aquaculture sector, impacting the distribution of stocks and causing severe weather events. As a result, there is a need for innovation to integrate measures and technology to support forecasting and weather alert systems, suggested Sari. A background in marine biology isn’t essential With a background in marine affairs, Fuentevilla always knew he wanted to work in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. And, there’s a lot of people in the agency that have always been “attached to the ocean and to aquaculture,” he said. However, a significant number of his colleagues also come from different backgrounds, such as international law, business, trade and commerce, sociology, and anthropology. Sari encouraged professionals to be constantly evaluating the impact of their work and how they can be better informed. To complement her expertise in biology and marine research, Sari has taken strategic steps at several points throughout her career to develop her knowledge, through academic and practical experience, in human-centered approaches, managing project budgets, and designing capacity-building programs. It’s also important to “be innovative and be open in our approach and strategy … and to think outside the box,” she said. For Karisa, while it is important to keep abreast of new technologies, people skills are still the most critical aspect of the work. Fisheries management is more about understanding and managing people than it is about biology or fish, he said.