A summary of small-scale fisheries and the SSF Guidelines at COFI 37
©FAO
The 37th Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI 37), held from 7 to 11 September 2026 at FAO Headquarters in Rome, brought small-scale fisheries (SSF) prominently into discussions on sustainable fisheries, food security, nutrition, livelihoods, climate change and fisheries governance.
Small-scale fisheries featured both in the Committee's formal deliberations and in a range of Speaker’s Corner sessions and complementary events throughout the week. The Committee also dedicated a full agenda item to “Supporting small-scale fisheries and aquaculture, including inland fisheries, and elevating their contributions to food security, nutrition and livelihood support”.
The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) were reaffirmed as a key framework for supporting sustainable small-scale fisheries.
Small-scale fisheries were referred to in most agenda items during COFI 37. The Committee recognized and underscored the vital contribution of small-scale fisheries to food and nutrition security, livelihoods and the socio-economic well-being of coastal communities. It emphasized the importance of greater recognition of small-scale fisheries, meaningful participation and access to fisheries resources, and encouraged FAO to extend appropriate technical support and capacity-building assistance to Members, particularly developing countries, to strengthen small-scale fisheries.
When reporting back on the work of the COFI Sub-Committee on Fish Trade, the Committee requested FAO to continue advancing work to enhance market access for small-scale fisheries, including through complementary technical instruments to address their specific needs within the FAO Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries.
On the issue of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, the Committee recalled its detrimental impacts on the sustainability of fisheries and stressed the need to strengthen the performance of port, flag, coastal and market States in combating IUU fishing. In this context, it recognized the importance of taking into account the specific context and challenges faced by small-scale fishers when preventing and combating IUU fishing.
In discussing climate change, the Committee noted the increasing impacts of climatic changes and extreme events on aquatic food systems and called upon FAO to continue supporting Members, upon request, in implementing adaptation and mitigation actions, with particular attention to small-scale fisheries.
Under the agenda item specifically addressing small-scale fisheries and aquaculture, including inland fisheries, and their contributions to food security, nutrition and livelihoods, the Committee made several important statements. It recognized the vital contribution of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture, including inland fisheries, to food security, nutrition, livelihoods and rural development, and reaffirmed the relevance of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines).
The Committee also emphasized the importance of strengthening participatory and integrated governance and management, including for inland fisheries through co-management and cross-sectoral approaches such as integrated water resources management. It encouraged FAO to further enhance approaches for the assessment, management and monitoring of small-scale, data-limited, multispecies and multigear fisheries, and highlighted the importance of integrating social dimensions into small-scale fisheries policies and management.
The Committee further reconfirmed the biennial SSF Summit as an important global platform for small-scale fisheries actors and encouraged its continued convening every two years, prior to the sessions of COFI, subject to the availability of resources. It also emphasized that science-based precautionary management approaches, together with local, traditional and Indigenous knowledge, are critical for sustaining the resources on which small-scale fishers and their communities depend. Finally, it recognized the importance of water resources for inland fisheries and emphasized the need to provide water-scarce countries with technical support to promote sustainable water resources management.
Small-scale fisheries in the Speaker’s Corner
Small-scale fisheries were also strongly represented in the COFI 37 Speaker’s Corner programme, with sessions addressing implementation of the SSF Guidelines, including through national plans of action, addressing data-limited fisheries, expanding access to social protection, certification frameworks, mainstreaming inland fisheries in basin governance and the role of women and communities. A session on Wednesday, 9 September 2026 presented the reactivated Global Strategic Framework in support of the SSF Guidelines implementation (SSF-GSF), the challenges and good practices identified during the third SSF Summit held prior to COFI37. The session highlighted the relevance of having global mechanisms and events such as the SSF-GSF and SSF Summits, which foster collaboration among SSF actors and other relevant actors to advance the SSF Guidelines implementation. (Learn more)
Complementary events
In addition to the Speaker’s Corner, SSF-related issues were presented in several of COFI 37's complementary events (Learn more).
- Blue foods, bold stories: live cooking and tasting experience featuring aquatic recipes from the IYWF Cookbook
- Youth Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum: solutions for sustainable, resilient and equitable aquatic food systems
- Women’s leadership for a sustainable Blue Economy
- From sea to plate: food experience on blue crab livelihoods and sustainability (event organized around blue crab livelihoods, also highlighted work on small-scale fishing communities and sustainable value chains).
Learn more: