Integrating Social Protection with Fisheries: A Sustainable Approach for Global Communities

Integrating Social Protection and Jobs (SPJ) with fisheries management is vital to combating global fish stock decline and improving the livelihoods of fisheries-dependent communities. Case studies from Costa Rica, Kenya, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam illustrate the potential benefits and challenges of this approach.

The World Bank's policy and technical note from June 2024, underscores the dire global situation where fishery stocks are declining, posing a significant threat to the livelihoods of communities dependent on fisheries and to broader food and nutrition security. Overfishing and climate change have exacerbated this decline, with policies often imposing socioeconomic costs on fisheries communities in the short to medium term. This report suggests a promising solution: integrating Social Protection and Jobs (SPJ) measures with fisheries management. SPJ programs are designed to manage risks, protect people from poverty, and promote better opportunities, and they could play a crucial role in facilitating necessary but challenging fisheries reforms and regulations for sustainable management. The document draws from case studies in five countries Costa Rica, Kenya, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam to illustrate various approaches and contexts for integrating SPJ with fisheries management, offering valuable insights into the potential benefits and challenges of such integration.

Costa Rica's Artisanal Fishers: Bridging the Gap Between Growth and Inclusion

In Costa Rica, the focus is on the socioeconomic conditions of low-income artisanal fishing communities and identifying avenues for their social and economic inclusion. Despite Costa Rica's status as an upper middle-income country with sustained economic growth, many fisheries communities have been left behind, facing increasing climate risks and challenges from government measures aimed at protecting marine ecosystems and improving fishing sustainability. The study highlights the need for better coordination between the country's social protection system and the fisheries sector to support these marginalized communities effectively. By collaborating with local academia and relevant ministries, the World Bank developed a pilot questionnaire to profile small-scale fisheries communities and diagnose current and future labor demand. This effort aims to inform potential actions to promote the economic inclusion of low-income fisheries workers and their communities.

Kenya's Blue Economy: New Opportunities for Coastal Communities

In Kenya, the case study examines the opportunities for creating new and better jobs in the fisheries sector, particularly in coastal areas that have not benefited from the country's robust economic growth. Despite Kenya's overall economic progress, coastal areas remain some of the least developed, with fishing communities falling into poverty. The Government of Kenya has prioritized the "Blue Economy" as part of its Vision 2030 development agenda, with fisheries identified as a key sector. The study suggests that combining SPJ and fisheries management programs can help support the poorest and most vulnerable fishing households, enabling them to cope with short-term income threats resulting from government measures to improve fisheries management. Analysis of official statistics and household surveys provides a comprehensive understanding of the socioeconomic and labor-market status of fishing and aquaculture workers, informing strategies to improve social protection systems and leverage active labor-market programs.

Solomon Islands: Harnessing Indigenous Practices for Sustainable Fisheries

The Solomon Islands case study delves into leveraging community-based resource management (CBRM) to integrate SPJ-related interventions into fisheries management. Coastal resources are crucial for the Solomon Islands' population, but the country faces high disaster risks and limited capacity to cope. The government has focused on CBRM as its primary strategy for coastal fisheries management, building on indigenous conservation traditions and community rights. The study presents opportunities for combining CBRM and SPJ interventions to improve the sustainability of renewable natural-resource use and livelihoods. The approach includes a literature review, surveys, key-informant interviews, and stakeholder workshops, highlighting the potential measures to integrate SPJ into CBRM, such as financial inclusion, climate-change adaptation, and disaster-risk management.

Sri Lanka's Coastal Fisheries: Navigating Economic and Environmental Crises

In Sri Lanka, the case study explores how SPJ policies and programs could help rebuild and maintain sustainable coastal fisheries, focusing on high-export-value species like spiny lobsters. Sri Lanka is experiencing an economic crisis, with fisheries households among those most threatened by food insecurity. Even before the crisis, declining fish-stock productivity failed to meet domestic demand. Efforts are underway to develop fisheries-management plans, but these will impose costs on fisheries workers. The study includes a literature review and statistical analysis of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of coastal households, emphasizing the need for strategic interventions to complement monitoring and enforcement of fisheries regulations. Reforms to make the country's fragmented SPJ systems more adaptive and coherent with other sectors, including fisheries, are crucial.

Vietnam's Fisheries: Balancing Productivity and Sustainability

The Vietnam case assesses socioeconomic vulnerability to determine how to leverage and adapt SPJ interventions to support sustainable fishing and household resilience to poverty and climate risks. Vietnam, a top producer and exporter of fish products, faces declining fish-stock productivity due to ineffective management of both small-scale inshore and larger-scale offshore fisheries. The study creates a socioeconomic and demographic profile of the fisheries sector and assesses the vulnerability of fisheries households and workers using national survey data. The findings suggest that SPJ can play a crucial role in supporting government efforts to address fish-stock decline, including the planned decommissioning of vessels. Vietnam's SPJ systems, though evolved, remain small and fragmented, necessitating better implementation and coverage to support the fisheries sector effectively.

In summary, the integration of SPJ measures with fisheries management presents a viable strategy to address the complex challenges faced by fisheries communities worldwide. The case studies from Costa Rica, Kenya, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam provide concrete examples of how this integration can promote sustainable fisheries, enhance livelihoods, and ensure food and nutrition security, despite the significant socioeconomic challenges involved.