The world depends on fisheries: approximately 3.3 billion people rely on fish for a large part of their diets, and the nutrients from fish provide important dietary diversity in low-income countries. The global export value of fish from developing countries is more than rice, sugar, and coffee combined. In FY22, USAID invested more than $73 million in over 25 countries and operating units to promote sustainable fisheries and conserve marine biodiversity. The Agency focuses on strengthening resource governance and management, combating illegal fishing, promoting seafood traceability, improving food security and inclusive development, empowering women, enhancing resilience, and diversifying financial strategies for achieving durable change. 

For more information, please see our factsheets on USAID's marine conservation, IUU fishing, and ocean conservation efforts.

 

Fisheries Matter

Did you know that fisheries products are the world's most widely traded foods, supporting a $500 billion global economy, and that fishing is the largest extractive use of wildlife in the world?

Billions of people around the world in developing countries depend upon wild fish for a substantial part of their animal protein and nutrition. This video explores why "Fisheries Matter" to global and local food security and what actions can be taken to improve and sustain fisheries productivity and the biodiversity upon which it depends.

 

Projects

SALT-photo.jpg

Seafood Alliance for Legality and Traceability

The Seafood Alliance for Legality and Traceability (SALT) is a global alliance for knowledge exchange and action to promote legal and sustainable fisheries through improved transparency in seafood supply chains. SALT brings together the seafood industry, governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to accelerate learning and to support collaboration on innovative solutions for legal and sustainable seafood, with a particular focus on traceability, the ability to track the movement of seafood through supply chains.

Learn more
Fishers in the Philippines

Fish Right

The Fish Right Program is a partnership between the Government of the Philippines and USAID to improve marine biodiversity and the fisheries sector in three key ecological areas. Fish Right will foster substantial change in fisheries management and climate resilience to achieve a ten-percent increase in fish biomass in Calamianes, Southern Negros, and Visayan Seas. Through improved management of fisheries, mangroves, and other coastal resources, the program will also increase resilience and improve livelihoods among households in the 39 municipalities of these marine key biodiversity areas.

Learn more
Ocean waves and sandy beach at Jeanette Kawas National Park

Conserving Coastal Ecosystems

Honduras’ coastal and marine ecosystems play a vital role in the country’s ability to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. The Conserving Coastal Ecosystems (CCE) Activity is a five-year project (2022–2027) that will improve coastal resource management to protect biodiversity, improve climate change adaptation and mitigation, and promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, generating resilience in local communities in Honduras. The CCE Activity is led by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in collaboration with the Foundation for Rural Business Development.

Learn more
 
 
 

Collaborative Learning GroupMarine Conservation
and Sustainable Fisheries

The Marine Conservation and Sustainable Fisheries community of practice supports USAID’s programming through peer-to-peer sharing and cross-Mission learning. The group shares activity-level situation models and results chains and reports and webinars on key learning topics, such as private sector engagement and the influence of China on fisheries.

Learn more 
 

Stories

Back to Top