Institutions, and the collective action that created them and which they enable, can play an important role in poverty eradication. In Norway, the Raw Fish Act passed in 1938 in the aftermath of the international financial crisis that hit the fishing industry hard, and the fishers’ cooperative sales-organizations that it authorized testify to this. Most of all, they helped to empower fishers in their ...

<i>Introduction</i>: Eradicating poverty and hunger appears prominently among the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2002, FAO estimated that 5.8 million small-scale fishers were under the poverty line (FAO 2002).1 This is a big number, and a global problem, which poses a major challenge for FAO and Member states. Therefore, the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable ...

This paper is written in recognition of the contributions that Maarten Bavinck has made to the field of maritime studies and for the inspiration that he has been for many. It is hard to separate Maarten’s academic and institution-building contributions from his personal qualities, particularly his interest in human relationships. Maarten’s aptitude for building bridges between people, ideas, and ...

An image is what we have in our head and what we make up in an allegory, a name, a metaphor, a text, a map or in a drawing. None of these should be confused with the thing that is being imagined. They are not the real thing, just our imaginations of it. Still, we could not do without them, for instance when governing small-scale fisheries. They make us understand what we are up to and the track we ...

In the “Future We Want,” states and non-state actors are invited to contribute to achieving sustainable development goals through various means and mechanisms. This includes securing justice for the most marginalized and disadvantaged sectors like small-scale fisheries, whose rights and access to resources are threatened by Blue Economy/Growth initiatives. While strong and just institutions are ...

The North Sea is one of the busiest marine areas in the world. It is also a major fisheries ground. Bordered by seven countries with their own spatial uses and claims, the stage is set for complex and demanding governance challenges. Recent decades have also seen user groups multiply, competition for space and resources increase, and the pressure on the marine environment and its living natural ...

The vast developmental opportunities offered by the world’s coasts and oceans have attracted the attention of governments, private enterprises, philanthropic organizations, and international conservation organizations. High-profile dialogue and policy decisions on the future of the ocean are informed largely by economic and ecological research. Key insights from the social sciences raise concerns ...

Despite their contribution to employment, food security, poverty eradication, and community well-being, small-scale fisheries often find themselves in a disadvantageous position globally relative to large-scale fisheries and other industries competing for marine space, resources, and government attention. By and large, small-scale fisheries are marginalized in every sense of the word: culturally, ...