A global initiative is shedding light on the outsized of role of small-scale fisheries in supporting sustainable development.
In coastal and inland communities around the world, small-scale fisheries are major sources of food, nutrition, and income for a growing population. Yet their contributions are often poorly measured and ignored in policy and management decisions.
Illuminating Hidden Harvests is a global initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Duke University, and WorldFish to generate and disseminate new evidence about the benefits, interactions, and impacts of small-scale fisheries to inform policy and practice.
A key output of the initiative is the 2023 report Illuminating Hidden Harvests: The contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development, which provides a snapshot of the environmental, economic, gender, nutrition, and governance contributions of small-scale fisheries. An interdisciplinary group of 800 experts contributed to the report, including more than two dozen scholars from Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, Marine Lab, and Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability.
Illuminating Hidden Harvests is part of a broader partnership between FAO and Duke to build a scientific evidence base for policymakers to develop strategies and solutions to support small-scale fisheries.
Funding for Duke’s work in Illuminating Hidden Harvests was provided by Oak Foundation.
