Priority 5

Build resilient communities to face climate change and offer prospects to youth

Small-scale fishers are the first to suffer the impacts of climate change and other external shocks, and this affects the future for youth in communities to make a living from fishing.

Fisheries governance must include Disaster Risk Reduction and emergency response, access to social rights, such as education, health and social security, and guarantee decent fishery dependent livelihoods for youth.

By 2030…

Governments should:

  • Develop, with fishing communities, specific policies and plans for climate change adaptation and mitigation, including restorative measures to ensure healthy marine ecosystems, and measures for disaster risk reduction and emergency response;

    • Ensure social rights for SSF, such as access to social security, health, education, safety at sea in a way that will improve the attractivity of the sector for youth; and

  • Support initiatives that improve the communities’ resilience, particularly facing resource scarcity, helping them reduce post-harvest losses or developing supply alternatives, with the objective of offering long term decent livelihoods prospects to youth.

We call on governments and their partners to build resilient small-scale fishing communities by developing national strategic plans to implement these actions by 2030.

These plans must be adequately funded and guided by the FAO Guidelines to Secure Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries and other relevant regional policies.