Register online for this event
Small-scale fisheries (SSF) contribute significantly to food security, livelihoods, and employment worldwide. Despite their importance, SSF often face persistent barriers in accessing domestic, regional, and international markets. Increasingly, consumers and regulators demand that fisheries and aquaculture products not only be safe and of high quality but also be sustainably sourced and legally obtained.
Ecolabelling schemes and other certification initiatives have become important mechanisms for demonstrating the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture products. However, their implementation remains challenging for SSF, given the complexity, costs, and technical requirements associated with it.
This webinar series aims to explore how ecolabelling and other value chain and market-based or regulatory tools can be adapted in a feasible, inclusive, and cost-effective way for SSF, ensuring that small-scale producers can access lucrative markets while contributing to global sustainability.
Objectives
- Discuss regulatory and non-regulatory tools and measures to address sustainability challenges in the fisheries sector.
- Assess the extent to which SSF can benefit from ecolabelling, certification schemes to enhance market access.
- Examine other value chain and market-based measures and initiatives and identify practical and scalable solutions for SSF to meet triple-bottom sustainability.
- Share national and regional experiences (successes and challenges) in applying these tools to SSF.
- Develop recommendations on how to better support SSF in leveraging these instruments for sustainable market access.
Expected Outputs
- A report highlighting the main challenges, opportunities, and good practices identified.
- A draft set of practical recommendations on adapting ecolabelling, certification, and other value chain and market-based measures and tools to SSF contexts.
- Enabling knowledge and experience exchange and strengthening networking among stakeholders to foster future collaboration and pilot initiatives.
Audience
Open to government officials, fisheries and aquaculture agencies, fisheries cooperatives, national fisheries experts, civil society, academia, and international partners.
