Rare launches the world’s first small-scale fisheries impact bond
IN THIS ISSUE:
⬩ FEATURES
⬩ FISH FOREVER PROGRAM ROUND-UP
⬩ FIELD-BUILDING RESEARCH
FEATURES
Rare launches the world's first small-scale fisheries impact bond
Following a feasibility study in collaboration with Levoca, Rare launched the world's first Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF) Impact Bond to channel private and philanthropic capital toward revitalizing coastal communities and ecosystems. The SSF Impact Bond will finance community-led co-management of small-scale fisheries, a proven pathway to meeting people's and nature's needs.
Earthshot Prize finalists outline three critical steps to revitalize our community seas
Coastal 500, Abalobi, and WildAid — the Earthshot Prize finalists in the Revive Our Oceans category — authored an op-ed to bring urgent attention to the needs of our planet's coastal fisheries. Together, they outline three critical steps the international community can take to revitalize the coastal waters on which so many depend.
Rare joins the Island-Ocean Connection Challenge
On World Fisheries Day (November 21), Rare joined the Island-Ocean Connection Challenge (IOCC), a global effort to restore at least 40 globally significant island-ocean ecosystems from ridge to reef by 2030 to benefit people, wildlife, and our planet. IOCC will work with Rare’s Center for Behavior & the Environment and the Coastal 500 global network of mayors and local leaders to build a culturally sensitive approach to promoting effective island biosecurity.
Protecting Honduras' 12 nautical miles
On November 23, fishers, local leaders, and mayors took the lead in calling for action to protect Honduras' 12 nautical miles. Their call prompted the national government to step in and offer crucial support. Governments, municipal authorities, local leaders, and NGO representatives convened in the La Ceiba municipality to solidify their commitment to this cause. Participants pledged to actively promote responsible artisanal fishing, review environmental legal frameworks, and address marine pollution.
Five questions with Rare's Vice President of Science and Impact, Dr. Anthony Chatwin
Dr. Anthony Chatwin recently joined Rare as its first Vice President of Science and Impact. We sat down with Chatwin to learn more about his love of data, adventures sailing worldwide, and the people and experiences that have inspired him most.
Rare's 2023 Year-in-Review
In 2023, Fish Forever expanded into more coastal areas of Indonesia, Mozambique, the Philippines, and Brazil. The program also created the Implementer Resources Library, published a report about its work helping fishers adapt to climate change, joined NGOs creating a 30x30 policy framework to recognize community-managed marine areas, and more.
Program Highlights
- Coastal 500 mayors from the Philippines and Honduras represented coastal communities at COP28's Local Climate Action Summit.
- Local leaders, governments, municipal authorities, and NGO representatives committed to protecting Honduras' 12 nautical miles for coastal fishing.
- Rare Palau participated in the National Climate Change Policy update, calling for greater protection of herbivorous fish and key biodiversity given their prominent role in coastal system health.
- Coastal 500, with support from Rare Brazil, attended the 8th National Meeting of the SDG Network hosted in the Barcarena municipality.
- As part of Mozambique's Resilient Coastal Communities project, Rare's Fish Forever and Innovative Finance teams collaborated with Silvestrum to conduct a blue carbon pre-feasibility assessment in Nampula and Zambezia provinces.
- Rare Indonesia trained community members in Sang Tombolang on saving club operations and launched a new financial inclusion program for fishing communities in Batu Merah Village, North Sulawesi province.
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FISH FOREVER ROUND-UP
Our Global Network
*Real-time program data. For more details, see https://portal.rare.org.
Global Hub for Collaboration and Learning
Launching the new Fish Forever Essentials Module: Fish Forever's Global Hub for Collaboration and Learning launched the Fish Forever Essentials Module website, a collection of 20+ interactive activities, facilitation guides, and customizable materials to enhance users understanding of seven essential elements for functional, community-led coastal fisheries management. Whether the users – fishers, community members, government officials, and staff from partner organizations – complete the experience online at their own pace or in person with others, they finish with the confidence and inspiration to contribute to healthy, resilient coastal communities and ecosystems.
Data and Technology
Technology integration, AI, and more: Following adopting the new field data collection platform earlier this year, Fish Forever's Data & Technology team designed new surveys and trained more users to encourage seamless integration with our evolving technological landscape. This work represents a significant step forward in our ability to collect and analyze data for decision-making. The team continues to explore AI's practical applications, such as using the tool to translate and transcribe audio interviews for more effective data collection and analysis strategies. We also embarked on a substantial overhaul of the Fish Forever Portal to ensure our work is accessible and relevant to the communities and management bodies we support. Additional updates include a new data guide that consolidates donor metrics and showcases the source of critical fisheries data. As always, Fish Forever's Data & Technology team remains focused on advancements to refine our processes and continue evolving with technology.
Philippines
Coastal 500 mayors at COP28: Mayor Alfredo Coro, Mayor Bebot Nicopior-Te, and Mayor Alfredo Arquillano of the Philippines represented coastal communities and the steps they are taking towards climate resilience at the mayors-only Local Climate Action Summit hosted by the COP28 Presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Global Biodiversity Framework: Rare joins other NGOs to support the Philippines government in its Global Biodiversity Framework roadmap. A workshop in November kicked off a series of workshops where stakeholders will identify priority areas for protection and finalize criteria for other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs).
Presenting data at the National Capital Accounting for Coral Reef Data Stocktaking workshop: Rare Philippines' Science and Policy team participated in the three-day National Capital Accounting for Coral Reef Data Stocktaking workshop to kickstart a framework for valuing coral reef ecosystems and ecosystem services. Rare shared the methods and overall results of our work on biophysical monitoring, benthic mapping, and relevant data needed for resource accounting.
Central America: Honduras and Guatemala
Local communities awarded funds to manage coastal waters: The Forest Conservation Institute recognized the significance of Honduras' movement to protect 12 nautical miles and awarded the first-ever funds directly to fisher associations working to protect coastal waters in Iriona, Limón, Santa Fé, and Laguna de Zambuco. This is the first time Afro-Honduran communities have applied for and won funding from the Fund for the Management of Protected Areas and Wildlife.
Financial education class graduation: The Municipal Mayor's Office of Iriona, CUSO International, and Rare held a graduation ceremony for the 42 community members in Iriona's San Jose de la Punta community in Colón who participated in Rare's 1st and 2nd phases of its financial education training related to business planning, administration, and financing.
Pacific Islands: Palau and Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)
Palau’s National Climate Change Policy update: Rare Palau participated in the National Climate Change Policy update, calling for greater protection of herbivorous fish and key biodiversity given their prominent role in coastal system health.
New saving clubs in Pohnpei: Fish Forever in the island of Pohnpei established seven new savings clubs with support from the Pacific American Fund.
Brazil
Coastal 500 Network meets with the SDG Network and the Brazilian Association of Municipalities: Coastal 500, with support from Rare Brazil, attended the 8th National Meeting of the SDG Network hosted in the Barcarena municipality. The event gathered public authorities, civil society, universities, and partner organizations to organize collective action favoring climate and conservation. Coastal 500 participated in the roundtable discussion "From local to global: The voice of Amazonian cities to the world" and shared actions to strengthen Amazonian coastal cities' participatory management of territories and natural resources.
Implementing the Mothers of the Mangrove 2023 seed fund: More than 150 women from 25 communities in Brazil's Pará state participated in October budget preparation workshops for projects approved by the 2023 Seed Fund. With support from the Associations of Users and Extractive Reserves, the women received 60 thousand reais in seed funds to pursue entrepreneurial projects.
Women-led food handling and product quality workshop in Porto Grande: On October 15 and 16, the community of Porto Grande in São João da Ponta held a workshop on good practices and food handling in artisanal fishing. The initiative aimed to strengthen community enterprises through improving products and appreciation of women extractivists on Pará's coast. The Association of Women of the Sea of Porto Grande led lessons on product traceability, quality control, and freezing techniques as essential steps to ensure product quality in the local market.
Mothers of the Mangrove Network a finalist in the 2023 Rural Women Award: On October 19, Mothers of the Mangrove Network representatives traveled to the Brasília capital to receive an award from the Spanish Embassy for third place in the Rural Women Award. The contest recognizes initiatives encouraging rural women's economic autonomy to promote gender equality, increase visibility, and value diversity as a matrix of economic, social, and cultural development.
Rare Brazil supports annual mangrove monitoring: During October and November, Rare Brazil supported ICMBio in carrying out field activities for the yearly mangrove monitoring in the Caeté-Taperaçu Extractive Reserve and the Gurupi-Piriá Extractive Reserve. The main focus included evaluating the uçá crab population and mangrove vegetation to assess biodiversity and ecosystem health.
Mozambique
Rare President Caleb McClennen reflects on recent Mozambique visit: In November, Rare President Caleb McClennen traveled to Mozambique's Inhambane province, where he met with fishers and Her Excellency, Dr. Lidia Cardoso, Minister of the Sea Inland Waters and Fisheries in the Fequete community. Caleb discussed the urgency to help coastal communities secure greater rights to manage and improve their resources, build capacity to improve fisheries management, and absorb financial investment in diversifying their livelihoods — all elements critical to Rare's Fish Forever approach.
Blue carbon pre-feasibility assessment in Nampula and Zambezia provinces: As part of Mozambique's Resilient Coastal Communities project, Rare's Fish Forever and Innovative Finance teams collaborated with Silvestrum to conduct a blue carbon pre-feasibility assessment. The goal was to evaluate the potential for blue carbon project development across nine project communities in Nampula and Zambezia provinces. The assessment considered specific indicators such as area size, mangrove habitat loss rate, community governance opportunities, Rare's presence, legal context, and stakeholder dynamics. Informed by a field visit in September 2023, this assessment provided essential guidelines for Rare's future regional interventions.
Indonesia
North Sulawesi launches new financial inclusion program: From November 20-23, the Indonesia team conducted Training of Trainers (ToT) for local facilitators in Sang Tombolang, North Sulawesi Province. Eighteen participants from five villages received information on the mechanisms of establishing and operating savings clubs. Following the training, three facilitators from one village were selected to organize the first financial literacy training for fishing communities in Batu Merah Village. The 38 participants (17 men and 21 women) representing 19 households joined the two-day training on managing household finances, financial services and products, insurance, and savings club operations. Both activities marked the launch of North Sulawesi's financial inclusion program.
Southeast Sulawesi conducts new insurance literacy training: In November, Rare Indonesia conducted insurance training for 14 insurance agents and 331 people of local communities in Buton, Buton Selatan, and Bombana in Southeast Sulawesi. Two hundred eighty-three people enrolled in life and death insurance products from BPJS Ketenakerjaan. Fishing communities view this program as essential to minimizing the economic burden that potentially comes with fishing as a high-risk occupation. Affordability is a key feature of this government insurance program, and we expect it, alongside the 14 insurance agents, will accelerate efforts for insurance adoption among fishing communities. Rare will roll out the program in additional districts in 2024.
Surveillance training ramps up with new MAR sites and members: Community representatives from 10 new Fisheries Management Bodies (FMBs) in the Southeast Sulawesi region participated in a recent community-based surveillance training that sprung from collaboration among Rare Indonesia, the provincial government, police, and navy to improve provincial marine area enforcement strategies. With supporting province regulation and protocols in each managed access with reserves fishery management plans, the training is instrumental to building a province-wide network among all stakeholders on coordinating efforts and limiting fishers' violations.
FIELD-BUILDING RESEARCH
Ovando, D., Liu, O., Molina, R., Parma, A., & Szuwalski, C. (2023). Global effects of marine protected areas on food security are unknown. Nature, 621(7979), E34-E36.
There’s a lot of ongoing interest in the relationships between Marine Protected Areas and increased food security for vulnerable people, and it’s an impact central to Rare’s community-focused goals. This short response piece, published in Nature, aims to ground that conversation in consideration of the evidence. The paper argues that recent high-profile studies of food security impacts may have made faulty assumptions and overstated the effects of MPAs. Instead, the authors advocate a more detailed, site-specific approach to assess food security impacts rather than global-scale studies. As the authors conclude, MPAs can improve food security where overfishing is common or severe, but we should also be aware of potential trade-offs between no-fishing rules and food availability in some cases.
Come, J., Peer, N., Nhamussua, J. L., Miranda, N. A., Macamo, C. C., Cabral, A. S., ... & Snow, B. (2023). A socio-ecological survey in Inhambane Bay mangrove ecosystems: Biodiversity, livelihoods, and conservation. Ocean & Coastal Management, 244, 106813.
The authors combine scientific data collection with local ecological knowledge to study how people and the environment work together. The article shows the extent and importance of mangroves in Inhambane Bay in Mozambique. The authors used ecological studies to find the most common mangrove species in the area and worked with local community leaders to highlight the actions that local communities take to protect mangroves and the values that guide these behaviors. The work is very similar to Fish Forever’s approach, working with communities to collect social and ecological data to better protect reefs, seagrass, and mangroves.
Stiepani, J., Sandig, A., & Blicharska, M. (2023). The Where, the How, and the Why of the gleaning fishery: Livelihoods, food security, threats and management on the island of Malalison, Philippines. Ocean & Coastal Management, 244, 106806.
Collecting shellfish and invertebrates by hand at the shoreline, also known as gleaning, is important for household food supply, supplementary income, and gender equity in fisheries. But it’s very hard to track because there are often no licenses or regulations to define access or produce reliable data that can guide decisions. The authors studied gleaning in a community in the central Philippines. They found that nearly 10% of interviewees’ average household income came from gleaning and it was a primary income source for almost a third of women interviewed. One third of men and over 80% of women also said gleaning was very important for household food security. We were already convinced of the importance of gleaning in Fish Forever communities, but this just confirms our suspicions. And it offers a nice model for how we can make sure our data collection and fisheries management decisions reflect the importance of gleaning for food security, gender equity, household income, and ecosystem health.
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