For those living near the coast, or near inland water bodies, fisheries are nearly always an important aspect of household income. Like forests, fisheries are generally accessible, in some form, by people of all income levels, making them a last refuge for many poor households. An estimated 250 million people in developing countries are directly dependent on small-scale fisheries for food and income. In Thailand, for example, 90 percent of the nation’s fishers are still small-scale operators (World Bank 2004:17).

The small-scale fishing that the poor do differs markedly from the industrial fishing of factory trawlers and long-line fishers. Small-scale fishing is usually a low-capital operation with owner-operated vessels, such as those using cast nets and small traps. Many times it is carried out from small non-mechanized canoes or rafts, or from small motorized boats and dinghies crewed by one or a few people. But sometimes it is done from the shore without even the use of a boat. In Indonesia, for example, half of the nation’s 2 million ocean fishers use unmotorized canoes; another 25 percent use small boats with outboard engines; 80 percent live below the national poverty line (FAO 2000a:2-3).

Marine fisheries often contribute enormously to the livelihoods of the coastal poor. In coastal communities studied in Mozambique, fishing contributes 34-38 percent of cash income, with additional environmental income coming from the sale of mollusks, seaweed, and sea cucumbers (Wilson et al. 2003:96). Likewise, families in coastal Tanzania supplement subsistence agriculture and forestry with fishing, seaweed and shrimp farming, and salt production (Bayer 2003:1). Households living in coastal villages along Korangi Creek in Pakistan rely on mangroves as their primary source of woodfuel and animal fodder, and rely on the mangrove fisheries for both wage labor and food (Khalil 1999:9-10). For families too poor to own boats in Indiranagar, India, labor on the fishing boats of others provides a crucial source of income (Rengasamy et al. 2003:128).

Inland fisheries—in lakes, rivers, streams, rice paddies, and fish ponds—are just as important a resource for the poor as marine fisheries. In the Lower Mekong River basin, for example, a recent study found that 40 million rural farmers—many of them poor—engage in seasonal fishing activities. In Laos, where the incidence of rural poverty is quite high, 70 percent of all farm households augment their family food supplies and incomes with fish (Sverdrup-Jensen 2002:8).

These statistics make it clear that fisheries are a key—and often overlooked—aspect of food security for the poor. In East Asia and in Africa, fish provide more than 50 percent of the animal protein intake in the diet of 400 million people (World Bank 2004:18). In Liberia, Ghana, and Cambodia, fish and fish products constitute 65 to 70 percent of animal protein consumed (FAO and UK DFID 2002:20, 21; UK DFID 2000:18).

In areas of the world that support coral reefs, these systems also provide a crucial portion of people’s livelihood. (See Table 2.6 Nature-Based Livelihood Strategies By Income Level On Agattti Island, India.) Reefs provide fish for daily consumption, shells and corals for use in house construction and for sale to tourists, and a variety of marine species for medicinal purposes (Rengasamy et al. 2003:130-133). Rural households in the Fiji Islands—a third of which are poor—routinely subsist on fish and shellfish such as kaikoso clams they catch themselves on local beaches, reefs, and other inshore waters, and sell the remainder for cash. (See Chapter 5 for a complete case study of Fiji’s fisheries.) In the Caribbean and parts of South East Asia, coral reefs play an important role in a growing ecotourism market, bringing money and jobs into these regions. The combined benefits of dive tourism, fisheries, and shoreline protection provided by reefs bring an estimated net value of US$3.1-3.6 billion to the Caribbean region every year (Burke and Maidens 2004:58).

Many fisheries—particularly marine fisheries—are dominated by large-scale fishing operations, and conflicts between local small-scale fishers and commercial operations are common. Often, poor communities operate at the margins, fishing what large-scale operators leave behind (Kura et al. 2004:87-88). In Chad’s Chari delta and along the western shore of Lake Chad (Nigeria), a comparative analysis found that the poor have access only to marginalized fishing grounds, while the more well-to-do have access to all water bodies (Béné 2003:960). Even where the poor do have access, they often lose out to richer fishers when competing directly, due to inferior equipment.