Small-scale fisheries as a common good and a social and solidarity economy practice

• Published in: Marine policy Vol. 168; p. 106305
• Main Authors: Fontenele, Raimundo Eduardo Silveira, Ribeiro, Francisco Wellington, Cavalcante, Maria Regiane Araújo, Ribeiro, Dimitri-Alexander Lenine Bivar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-10-2024
• Subjects: Artisanal fishing; Food security; Global South; SDG 14; Small-scale fishing; Sustainable fishing; Small-scale fishing; Sustainable fishing; SDG 14; Food security; Global South; Artisanal fishing
• ISSN: 0308-597X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106305

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 14, associated with sustainable fishing, are important in the path to be taken to achieve better global well-being, especially due to their affinity with the principles of common good and social and solidarity economy. This study aims to identify the performance of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries in the SDG 14 indicators for sustainable fishing, as well as analyze the relationships between sustainable fishing and food security. Based on the SDG panels, the frequency distribution of countries at different performance levels of the indicators was observed. Furthermore, a canonical correlation analysis was carried out seeking to identify the multivariate effects of sustainable fishing on food security. The results show mediocre progress, with an emphasis on protecting the access rights of small fishermen. Empirical evidence also shows that there is an influence of sustainable fishing on the level of food security, with great emphasis on a better birthweight and greater food security for the general population. Combating illegal, unregistered, and unregulated fishing and a greater proportion of fishing activity in countries' economies are moving towards (the same direction) the improvement in food security. These findings suggest that policymakers should be more supportive of promoting sustainable fishing, especially when based on the principles of common good and the social and solidarity economy. Policy support and the involvement of fishermen in the decision-making process can enhance small-scale fishing as a strategy for sustainable development and, specifically, for the generation of community well-being.
•SSF can reconcile the common good and social and solidarity economy principles.•More LAC countries perform better on access rights of small-scale fishermen.•Sustainable fishing has an average positive effect on food security indicators.•There is low availability of data on the SDGs, making their assessment difficult.