Call for Submissions: 10th anniversary of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines)

2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the endorsement of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines).

The SSF Guidelines are the first international instrument dedicated entirely to the immensely important small-scale fisheries sector. More than 4000 voices from fishers, fish workers and others in over 120 countries have described how they would want to make livelihoods along the small-scale fisheries value chain sustainable for people and the planet. Their recommendations have been summarized into a concise set of principles, namely the SSF Guidelines.

The final text of the SSF Guidelines was negotiated by FAO Members and endorsed by the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in 2014, confirming a strong commitment from both governments and civil society to bring about positive change in small-scale fisheries.

The principles in the SSF Guidelines address policies, strategies and legal frameworks concerning small-scale fisheries, but also other matters affecting lives and livelihoods in fishing communities.  The SSF Guidelines are global in scope, and they guide dialogue, policy processes and actions at national, regional and international level, contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Key issues addressed in the SSF Guidelines are:

• securing tenure rights and managing resources responsibly;
• supporting social development and decent work;
• improving value chains from catching through processing to trading fish;
• promoting gender equality; and
• taking into account climate change and disaster risk…..

For more information, please visit:  https://www.fao.org/fsnforum/call-submissions/10th-anniversary-voluntary-guidelines-securing-sustainable-small-scale-fisheries