November 26, 2025 — Across the world’s coral reefs, rivers, lakes, coastal waters, and high seas, fishers with simple tools and small boats harvest some 40% of the world’s wild-caught fish.
These small-scale fishers may feed as much as a quarter of the global population, providing essential nutrients and upholding local economies. Yet despite their importance, they face growing threats from climate change, pollution, and overfishing.
Asolution for ‘policy paralysis and inaction’
Aside from the volume of their annual catch and reliance on family labor, small-scale fisheries are marked by contrasts. Producers target more than 2,500 species in an array of habitats using a wide range of nets, traps, hooks, and boats, with different levels of access to refrigeration. While some fisheries operate individually and provide food locally, others are corporations with paid crews and extensive market reach.
“All these factors make developing clear pathways for sustainable consumption very difficult,” said Xavier Basurto, a professor of environmental social sciences at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and a senior author of a new analysis of 1,255 marine producers in 43 countries.
The challenge extends beyond fisheries. “The varying definitions of small-scale producers in farming, fisheries, and forestry give rise to confusion and lack of clarity in many legal documents and have been linked to policy paralysis and inaction,” Basurto and co-authors write in the study, published Oct. 14 in Nature Food.