Toward nutrition-sensitive global trade in small-scale fishery products

Providing a foundation for designing nutrition-sensitive trade strategies that better serve the communities most dependent on small-scale fisheries.

Credit: Pixabay

Small-scale fisheries (SSFs) underpin local economies and food systems around the world but globalization is reshaping who benefits nutritionally from SSFs. However, data on SSF activities are notoriously difficult to obtain, limiting understanding of the conditions that promote more equitable SSF trade outcomes. Therefore, we integrated three datasets to establish the first baseline picture of global SSF export volumes and trade orientation, tracing flows from producing to consuming countries from 1996-2019. Next, we combined trade orientation with SSF product price data to produce typologies of SSF-trade interactions that illuminate the range of existing trade situations. Finally, we identify and discuss relevant policy tools and programs that could support positive nutritional outcomes across the typologies. By mapping the diversity of SSF trade pathways and their nutritional consequences, this study provides a foundation for designing nutrition-sensitive trade strategies that better serve the communities most dependent on small-scale fisheries.

• Lead: Prof. Jessica Gephart, Kenneth K. Chow Endowed Professor in Aquaculture, Assistant Professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington