There are millions of small-scale fisheries around the world providing food and livelihoods for local communities and economies. Because they are mostly informal and difficult to track, they go unnoticed by sector statistics, which tend to focus on contributions from larger scale fishing industry to the national economy.

As a result, small-scale fisheries receive minimal attention from policymakers and consequently, minimal investment – if any. The disaggregation of national fisheries accounts can help reveal the role of small-scale fisheries in economic performance.

This webinar will discuss how natural capital accounting methods could be used to identify the contribution made by small-scale fisheries to the national economy, and the way in which more people-centred reporting could help in designing and targeting policies and investments in the fisheries sector to benefit small-scale fisheries.

Event details

Title: No hidden catch: mainstreaming small-scale fisheries in national accounts
Date: Tuesday, 20 November 2018
Time: 3-4pm (GMT)
Designed for: Statistical office staff; central bank staff; researchers with economics backgrounds; people who work in the fisheries sector who need data about small-scale fisheries
Where: From your desk or portable internet device. Webinars are online workshops that people can attend via the internet
To join the webinar: Register via the Eventbrite booking platform.

The webinar will use Adobe Connect. For those who have not attended an Adobe Connect meeting before, please test your connection once you have registered. A quick start guide for desktop or mobile access (PDF) is also available.

Outline programme:

• Introductions
• Sarah Harper, from the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, will provide an introduction on to how it is possible to get better data from small-scale fisheries
• Michael Bordt, from UN ESCAP Statistics Division, will show how data collected can be used for cross sectoral analysis
• Ina Porras, senior researcher in IIED’s Shaping Sustainable Markets research group, will highlight how this information can be used to design better policies – eg environmental action, guiding fiscal reform
• Question-and-answer session with participants, and
• Discussion, review and closing remarks.

Background

The webinar is organised as part of a wider programme of work that aims to enhance understanding of the true economic value of small-scale fisheries both to the national economy and to different social groups, and mainstream this information in national accounts to promote evidence-based policymaking.

Forthcoming webinars

A further webinar will be held in February 2019, focusing on why governance of the high seas matters to coastal communities.