USAID Southeast Asia Fisheries Partnership

The Asia-Pacific region has the highest marine biodiversity on earth. The fisheries supported by these rich ecosystems are the most productive globally, both in terms of biomass and diversity of catch. Without proper safeguards and protection, fisheries resources will decline and result in biodiversity loss. The planet’s biodiversity and these ecosystems are already under threat from land and marine pollution, destructive development, climate change, and fishing-related activities.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Thailand-based Regional Development Mission for Asia (RDMA), partners with the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) under the Project “USAID Southeast Asia Fisheries Partnership (SEAFish).”

GOAL

Fisheries and aquaculture practices and productions improved and managed sustainably.

OBJECTIVES

• Fishery policies, programs, and plans supported by SEAFDEC are adopted and implemented by national fisheries agencies
• Commercial and small-scale fishers have appropriate financial and human resources, capacity, and good governance to adopt sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices
• Increase operational and technical capacity among national fisheries agencies and fisheries institutions

APPROACHES AND GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS OF IMPLEMENTATION

SEAFish will work through four sub-regions in the Southeast Asian region:

• Gulf of Thailand
• Andaman Sea
• Sulu-Sulawesi Seas
• Mekong River Basin

COUNTRIES

10 ASEAN Member States: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

EXPECTED RESULTS

• Improved stock assessments and forecast models for regional fisheries that incorporate climate adaptation considerations
• New regional and sub-regional platforms for knowledge sharing to guide stronger implementation of fisheries policies, programs, and plans
• Increased adoption of fishing gear innovations among fishing vessels to reduce the impact of capture fisheries activities on coastal and marine ecosystems

FINANCED BY

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

DURATION

October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2028

The project’s plan categorized by objectives are as follows:

Objective 1: Fishery policies, programs, and plans supported by SEAFDEC are adopted and implemented by national fisheries agencies

To achieve this objective, SEAFish will support the adoption and implementation of policies, programs, and/or plans which address the urgent issues of rapidly declining fish stock due to the negative overfishing, impact of climate change, and the lack of regional data. SEAFish will work to improve regional data and enable forecasting fish stock status and related trends through a series of technical consultations among relevant governments, experts, key agencies, and scientists. The aim is to develop the scientific information on fish stock status and trend for food security, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable fisheries management in the region based on existing or newly established data collection systems. The illustrative activities under this objective include:

1. Develop stock assessment and forecast model as a tool towards biodiversity conservation and to mitigate impacts of climate change to fisheries;
2. Develop and implement regional program and activities to reduce impact of capture fisheries activities on coastal and marine ecosystem;
3. Support development of national and sub-regional platforms to support implementation of sustainable inland fisheries management plans; and
4. Establish regional platform for expansion of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture as part of blue economy and climate change mitigation.

Objective 2: Commercial and small-scale fishers have appropriate financial and human resources, capacity, and good governance to adopt sustainable fishing and aquaculture practice

To achieve this objective, SEAFish plans to identify the appropriate resources as well as develop and propose the set of technical recommendations for sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices. The illustrative activities under this objective include:

1. Conduct an assessment and pilot on integrated multi-trophic aquaculture for biodiversity conservation, blue economy, and climate change mitigation;
2. Develop fishing gear innovations and promote their adoption among fishing vessels to reduce the impact of capture fisheries activities on coastal and marine ecosystem; and
3. Develop fish meal innovations and pilot to promote sustainable aquaculture while reducing the pressure of capture fisheries activities.

Objective 3: Increase operational and technical capacity among national fisheries agencies and fisheries institutions

To achieve this objective, SEAFish plans to provide technical support to national fisheries agencies, which are SEAFDEC member countries. The illustrative activities under this objective include:

1. Conduct capacity building activities for national government authorities on stock assessment model to mitigate the impacts of climate change to fisheries;
2. Conduct capacity building activities for national government authorities on data collection and analysis towards development of inland fisheries management plan; and
3. Conduct capacity building activities for national government authorities in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Cross-cutting objectives

Besides the regional approach that is applied to accomplish the abovementioned objectives, SEAFish also considers cross-cutting issues which are gender equality and social inclusion, private sector engagement, and science and technology. Through SEAFish, SEAFDEC is promoting gender equality and social inclusion in fisheries by enhancing awareness and capacity building through training courses, gender studies, and encouraging women’s involvement in fisheries management. Concerning private sector engagement, SEAFish plans to collaborate with the private sectors on a case-by-case basis e.g. fishing gear modification with fishing net factory, cost-efficient feeds with feed ingredient suppliers, toll millers, and research agencies. For science and technology, SEAFish covers several data collection procedures to support science-based policy decision, e.g. R&D on integrated multitrophic aquaculture using seaweed-based farming, data collection in different inland habitats, data collection for tuna stock assessment, modification of fishing gear that reduce negative impacts to marine and coastal ecosystems.

Publications

SEAFish Fact Sheet Download

Press Release: USAID and SEAFDEC Launch Partnership to Promote Sustainable Fishing Practices in Indo-Pacific Region (26 July 2024) Download

News in other media

• USAID and SEAFDEC partner to promote sustainable fishing in Indo-Pacific