The case for supporting small-scale fisheries governance through ICT

This policy briefing argues that information and communications technology (ICT) can address systemic challenges in small-scale fisheries (SSFs), particularly in developing nations, by improving data collection and connecting fragmented actors across the value chain. It highlights the ABALOBI initiative in South Africa as a model for bottom-up, co-developed ICT tools that empower fishers and enhance governance.

• Small-scale fisheries (SSFs) in Africa are critical for livelihoods and food security, employing approximately 10 million people directly and 90 million indirectly, while supporting the food security of 200 million people.
• SSF governance is hindered by poor data quality and quantity, with available information often being incomplete, dated, or extrapolated. This lack of data, particularly regarding socio-economic aspects and gender dimensions, leaves decision makers operating without sufficient evidence when creating regulations.
• ICT offers two primary advantages for SSF governance: it streamlines the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data—reducing reliance on physical surveyors in remote areas—and it connects spatially separated actors, reducing systemic fragmentation in the value chain.
• The ABALOBI Initiative in South Africa is a free suite of open-source apps designed to implement the 2012 Small-Scale Fisheries Policy. It uses a bottom-up approach involving nearly 100 fishers to improve monitoring, traceability, and the inclusion of fishers in governance and business development.
• The ABALOBI suite consists of five specialized apps: 'Fisher' for logbooks and accounting; 'Monitor' for community monitoring at landing sites; 'Manager' for government and co-management dashboards; 'Co-op' for collective accounting and highlighting the value added by processors (mostly women); and 'Marketplace' for direct interaction between fishers and consumers.
• To ensure adoption, ICT interventions must provide a clear value proposition for fishers. In the case of ABALOBI, this includes tools for financial tracking, the ability to prove fishing activity to obtain formal rights, and direct access to market prices and demand.
• The document recommends that ICT interventions for SSFs be co-developed with fishers to meet unique needs, provide useful value propositions to incentivize adoption, and connect both horizontal operational components and vertical managerial components of the value chain.

APA

Petrik, M., & Raemaekers, S. (2018). The case for supporting small-scale fisheries governance through ICT. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Policy-Briefing-177.pdf

Chicago

Petrik, Marko, and Serge Raemaekers. The case for supporting small-scale fisheries governance through ICT. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2018. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Policy-Briefing-177.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Petrik |first1=Marko |last2=Raemaekers |first2=Serge |title=The case for supporting small-scale fisheries governance through ICT |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=June 2018 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Policy-Briefing-177.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{petrik2018case, author = {Petrik, Marko and Raemaekers, Serge}, title = {{The case for supporting small-scale fisheries governance through ICT}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2018}, month = jun, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Policy-Briefing-177.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }