COVID-19 reveals vulnerability of small-scale fisheries to global market systems
Authors: Christopher J Knight, Theresa L U Burnham, Elizabeth J Mansfield, Larry B Crowder, Fiorenza Micheli
Journal: The Lancet Planetary Health (2020)

Seafood consumption provides nutrients linked to reductions in malnutrition and disease for nearly half the global population.1Troell M Jonell M Crona B The role of seafood in sustainable and healthy diets. The EAT-Lancet Commission report through a blue lens.https://eatforum.org/content/uploads/2019/11/Seafood_Scoping_Report_EAT-Lancet.pdfDate: 2019Date accessed: April 24, 2020Google Scholar Almost half of the world's seafood comes from small-scale fisheries (SSFs), which also employ 90% of the world's fishers2Food and Agriculture Organization of the UNVoluntary guidelines for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries in the context of food security and poverty eradication.http://www.fao.org/3/i4356en/I4356EN.pdfDate: 2019Date accessed: April 24, 2020Google Scholar and provide crucial food and livelihoods in coastal communities globally. This important industry virtually collapsed in January, 2020, as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered one of the world's largest seafood markets, China. The closure of a single dominant market highlighted the growing vulnerability of SSFs to global market shocks, as many such fisheries increasingly rely on a limited number of foreign buyers rather than less lucrative domestic markets.3Food and Agriculture Organization of the UNA research agenda for small-scale fisheries.http://www.fao.org/3/ae534e/ae534e00.htm#ContentsDate: 2004Date accessed: April 24, 2020Google Scholar Furthermore, local management strategies available to SSFs can be effective at maintaining local fishing stocks but are incapable of ensuring the stability of a globalised market. For example, despite a wide-range of resilience strategies for spiny lobster fisheries worldwide, the global market for spiny lobster—valued at US $912 million in China alone4Harkell L China's direct imports of crustaceans now worth billions.https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2019/02/05/chinas-direct-imports-of-crustaceans-now-worth-billions/Date: 2019Date accessed: April 24, 2020Google Scholar—halted before the WHO declared COVID-19 a public emergency. This halt occurred because China imports 90% of global spiny lobster catch, a trend shared by many other high-value fisheries, including abalone and sea cucumber. Recognising this vulnerability, lobster fishers in Mexico and Australia previously attempted to gain access to additional markets via Marine Stewardship Council certification, but none could offer the premium prices of the dominant market.5Bellchambers LM Phillips BF Pérez-Ramírez M From certification to recertification the benefits and challenges of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC): a case study using lobsters.Mar Policy. 2014; 50: 249-260Crossref Scopus (20) Google Scholar Without international solutions, SSFs—and their associated livelihoods, nutrition, and health—face an uncertain future. Global pandemics might be once in a lifetime, but other unpredictable market shocks, such as recessions, political instability, trade wars, or natural disasters are common. Now is the time for action: SSFs are crucial to global food security and livelihoods,1Troell M Jonell M Crona B The role of seafood in sustainable and healthy diets. The EAT-Lancet Commission report through a blue lens.https://eatforum.org/content/uploads/2019/11/Seafood_Scoping_Report_EAT-Lancet.pdfDate: 2019Date accessed: April 24, 2020Google Scholar but they lack capacity to mitigate global market forces. Acknowledging the vulnerability of locally managed SSFs to reliance on a single market, and implementing global-level solutions to protect against global market volatility are central to enhancing sustainability of the global food system and supporting millions of livelihoods worldwide. International financial institutions, such as the World Bank, have begun to develop insurance opportunities to buffer SSFs against future crashes. These mechanisms need to be further developed and scaled. Furthermore, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has identified market diversification as key to SSF sustainability in the face of unpredictable market shocks. Therefore, there is a need for the FAO to expand their Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable SSFs to include guidance for SSF market diversification, specifically strategies to create new, premium demand. Finally, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the upcoming UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development are key milestones and opportunities for increasing SSF resilience, including designing and implementing market diversification, as key principles of fisheries sustainability. CJK, TLUB, and ELM contributed equally. We declare no competing interests.