Fishing for Fairness: Why Small-Scale Fishers Deserve a Bigger Voice in the Blue Economy

Ocean Love Stories
Written By Alexandria Jones

By Tsian Deslandes

The legacy of colonial ocean policy isn’t just about erasing knowledge—it also reshaped livelihoods. The same systems that silenced Indigenous voices carved out an ocean economy that privileges industry over intimacy, profit over people. Today, it’s small-scale fishers—those closest to the sea—who are being pushed out of it. Before the sun rises, a small wooden boat pushes off from a quiet shoreline. A fisher, like many around the world, heads out with hope—hope for a modest catch to feed their family and trade at the local market. From West African lagoons to the Pacific islands, these daily scenes are more than just tradition—they’re the heartbeat of local economies, food security, and marine stewardship.

Small-scale fishers make up 90% of the world’s capture fisheries workforce and deliver nearly half of the global fish catch. They are community pillars, cultural carriers, and sustainable stewards of our seas. Yet despite their enormous contributions, they’re being pushed aside—both literally and politically—as industrial fleets and global economic agendas dominate ocean spaces.

This post dives into that injustice—and how small fishing communities around the world are rising up to protect their rights, waters, and way of life.

🐟 The Big Fish in the Pond: How Industrial Fishing Marginalizes Communities

While local fishers harvest the sea with care—using nets, traps, and lines in nearshore waters—industrial fleets sweep vast ocean areas with trawlers and factory ships. Backed by big money and foreign interests, these operations can catch in a single day what a small fisher might take a year to collect.

From Senegal to South Africa, stories echo of nets coming up empty, local boats pushed out, and once-thriving coastal economies now in crisis. It’s not just about fish—it’s about survival, sovereignty, and stolen futures.

Worse yet, many small-scale fishers are criminalized for trying to survive. In places like Kalk Bay, South Africa, traditional fishers were left without permits due to complex licensing laws—while large corporations easily secured access. These same families were then branded as poachers on their ancestral waters. It's a cruel irony: the communities that have long protected the ocean are now being punished, while industrial plunder goes unchecked.

🗳️ Ocean Governance: Whose Voices Count?

The imbalance isn’t just offshore—it’s in the boardrooms, ministries, and international summits where ocean policies are made. Too often, the very people most dependent on the sea are excluded from the decision-making that affects them most.

Much of this stems from colonial-era systems that centralized control and prioritized export-oriented fishing. Even in the 21st century, these top-down legacies persist. Many artisanal fishers operate in informal economies, lack legal recognition, and are rarely consulted on new laws or marine development plans. Women—who play critical roles in processing and selling fish—are especially sidelined.

Fortunately, change is coming. The FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (VGSSF) mark a global shift toward recognizing small-scale fishers not just as stakeholders—but as rights-holders. Still, there's a long way to go to transform those principles into practice.

 

🌊 Local Heroes, Global Impact: Success Stories from Madagascar & India

It’s easy to feel discouraged—but communities are fighting back, and winning.

🇲🇬 Madagascar: A Homegrown Marine Revolution

In southwest Madagascar, the Vezo people pioneered community-driven conservation by closing octopus fishing zones temporarily. The result? Bigger, healthier catches once the areas reopened. This success sparked a movement—dozens of villages joined forces, forming Madagascar’s first locally managed marine area (LMMA), Velondriake, meaning “to live with the sea.”

Co-managed with government and NGO support, Velondriake blends traditional knowledge with science, restoring marine life while empowering people. Today, LMMAs cover over 18% of Madagascar’s inshore seabed—a testament to what happens when fishers lead the way.

🇮🇳 Chilika Lagoon, India: Fighting for the Right to Fish

In India’s Odisha state, traditional fishers around Chilika Lagoon faced a different challenge: shrimp farms were taking over their waters. What followed was one of the biggest grassroots movements for fishing rights in India’s history.

Fishers blockaded roads, fought legal battles, and ultimately won back their lagoon. Illegal shrimp enclosures were dismantled, and the community regained both its fishing grounds and its voice. Their message was clear: traditional fishers are not relics—they are resilient protectors of people and planet.

 

🔧 Building a Fairer Future: What Needs to Change

The stories of Madagascar and Chilika show us what’s possible when small-scale fishers have power. But to scale that success, we need serious reforms. Here's how:

  • 🔒 Secure Community Fishing Rights: Governments must formally recognize and protect traditional fishing zones. These rights are essential shields against encroachment and exploitation.

  • 🗣️ Include Local Voices in Decision-Making: From village councils to UN forums, small-scale fishers must be part of policy design. “Nothing about them without them” should be the rule.

  • ⚖️ End Unfair Practices: Phase out harmful subsidies for industrial fleets and stop granting secretive fishing licenses. Level the playing field with transparency and justice.

  • 🤝 Invest in Co-Management: Support community-led conservation by resourcing local knowledge and governance. Blend traditional systems with science to create win-win outcomes.

  • 📣 Reframe the Blue Economy as a Blue Justice Movement: Ocean development must center social equity—not just economic growth. Every marine project should ask: Who benefits? Who bears the cost?

 

💙 Cast the Net for Justice

This isn’t just a fight for fish—it’s a fight for fairness, dignity, and a future where no one is left behind.

Small-scale fishers aren’t the past—they’re the future of sustainable ocean use. They know their waters. They care for them. They’ve lived in balance with marine ecosystems for generations.

As ocean advocates, we must stand with them.

Because when local communities thrive, oceans thrive too. And when we champion justice in ocean governance, we protect the heartbeats of countless coastal cultures around the globe.

So, let’s change the narrative. Let’s cast our nets toward equity. And let’s build a Blue Economy that leaves no one behind.

Because as climate change accelerates, the ocean is becoming an even more dangerous place for the very communities who’ve long protected it.

The tides are rising—and for those living closest to the water, the risks are no longer distant.
They’re already washing ashore.

 

Sources available upon request. This blog draws on reports from FAO, Blue Ventures, Greenpeace Africa, the Community Conservation Research Network, and academic literature on ocean governance.

Sources:

Alexandria Jones
Previous

Cefas Conference 2025: Science with Heart, Action with Equity
Next

Decolonizing the Deep: Why Ocean Conservation Needs Indigenous Knowledge in the Caribbean