Learning Curves: ADB's Fisheries Policy

Abstract

Worldwide, fish are a critical source of animal protein, healthy lipids, and essential micronutrients. For 2.6 billion people living in developing countries, fish provide more than 20% of animal protein consumed, compared to 8% in industrialized countries. Fisheries also provide an important source of livelihoods, food security, and income for hundreds of millions of people around the world. The majority (87%) of the worldʹs fishers and aquaculture workers, numbering 33 million, live in the Asia and Pacific region. From 1969 to 1979, most ADB‐assisted projects addressed the needs of large‐scale fisheries, although some had components for small‐scale fisheries and aquaculture. From the late 1980s, capture fisheries entered a state of inexorable decline caused by decimation of fish stocks and ecosystem disruption. In the 1990s, ADBʹs approach and development assistance in the fishery sector expanded to encompass a wide range of environmental and social concerns. ADBʹs Policy on Fisheries, approved in 1997, expressed worry about widespread poverty among small‐scale fishers, overexploitation of fisheries resources, and degradation of the natural resource base. The policy was designed to support the promotion of sustainable management of fisheries and aquatic resources.