Reconciling sustainability, economic efficiency and equity in marine fisheries: Has there been progress in the last 20 years?

This paper reviews the progress made over the last 20 years in achieving sustainable, economically efficient and socially just marine fisheries, referred to here as reconciled fisheries. It examines the substantial changes that have occurred in policies, practices and the challenges to fisheries. These include greater awareness of the impacts of climate change, implementation of ecosystem approaches, recognition of the needs and role of small-scale fisheries, greater demands for fish and seafood and greater pressure from other sectors. Progress has been made in some countries and fisheries in improving sustainability and economic efficiency but much less in many others. Globally, substantial problems remain in the status of stocks, threats to biodiversity, incidence of undesirable ecological impacts, economic inefficiencies, and poverty, food insecurity and marginalization of fishers and other dependents on fisheries, particularly small-scale fishers. Effectiveness of management and governance is linked to the development status of countries, so the challenges are most marked in developing countries but developed countries are also failing, particularly in achievement of socially equitable fisheries, while also transferring some of their problems to developing countries. The paper argues that reconciled fisheries will only be attainable in conjunction with meeting human development needs as a whole, which are reflected in the 17 United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs). This requires that the global commitment to address the SDGs as being integrated and indivisible and in a spirit of global solidarity needs to be taken much more seriously than it currently appears to be.

Automated summary

This paper reviews the progress and challenges in marine fisheries over the past 20 years, highlighting improvements in sustainability and economic efficiency in some countries and fisheries but significant issues remaining globally, particularly affecting small-scale fisheries.