Pedro Ferreiro is the fisheries governance and livelihoods director at the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP).
With a background in marine biology and years of experience working with Spanish fisheries and aquaculture operations, Ferreiro now works as a liaison between small-scale fisheries and end buyers of sustainable seafood, with a special emphasis on markets in the Global South.
SeafoodSource spoke with Ferreiro about how the role of supply chain companies and other stakeholders in the seafood industry is evolving in efforts to support better management in small-scale fisheries.
SeafoodSource: How would you outline the longer-term role for the supply chain in supporting small-scale fisheries compared to the role governments play?
Ferreiro: In many small-scale fisheries, the supply chain, especially exporters or buyers, have stepped in to fill management gaps left by underresourced governments through fishery improvement projects (FIPs) or other improvement initiatives. Industry’s role needs to continue to evolve – from catalyzing basic improvements to building enduring incentives and partnerships that support local stewardship and governance.
There isn’t, and shouldn’t be, a one-size-fits-all model. Some governments are able and willing to eventually take a stronger role; others may always rely on hybrid or collaborative management systems, with ongoing industry investment at different levels, alongside public oversight.
What’s essential is clarity about responsibilities, transparency in financing, and realistic timelines. Industry can play a central role in securing good data collection, incentivizing compliance through procurement and traceability requirements, and working with regulators to design policy reforms. They also need to plan for covering the costs of sustaining key parts of the management system – not just audits or pre-competitive marketing but actual systems for monitoring, data collection and ensuring that local actors are incentivized and compensated for following best practices.
Ultimately, for improvements to last, governments must continue in the key roles of setting and enforcing the rules, granting rights, and providing an enabling legal and economic environment that facilitates more sustainable and equitable seafood production systems. The real challenge is getting to a place where true collaboration is happening, so industry actors should see themselves as bridging partners, not substitutes, and always look for opportunities to enable governments and communities to co-lead.
SeafoodSource: Your work also highlights empowering fishers and co-ops. Is that an important component of effectively driving improvements?
Ferreiro: Absolutely. Collective action is what drives change, and as such, empowering fishers and robust representative fisher organizations is fundamental to sustainable change in small-scale fisheries.
For decades, interventions focused on compliance or training without genuinely shifting rights or decision-making authority. But, co-management, where fishers have shared rights, clear responsibilities, and a real voice in rule-setting, has proven far more durable and effective and even less resource-intensive for governments.
Strong fisher organizations are vital for aggregating supply, channeling resources, strengthening negotiating power, and ensuring adherence to management plans. When fishers have secure access or user rights, they become invested stewards and are more willing to invest in sustainability and more motivated to adopt responsible practices. Industry, in turn, benefits from more stable supply and lower risk of reputational and legal problems. For both social equity and resource sustainability, genuine empowerment and meaningful engagement of fishers should be at the center of any improvement strategy.
SeafoodSource: Recognizing their reduced capacity, what is an appropriate expectation for a government’s role in supporting small-scale fisheries, and are there good examples of FIPs working with governments effectively?
Ferreiro: In small-scale fishery settings, especially where state capacity is limited, it’s important to be practical about what the government can do in the short term.
Governments still have unique and critical roles: issuing legal documentation, enforcing fundamental rules, enabling technology for traceability or monitoring, and setting the broader regulatory context. Even when their enforcement on the water may be weak, their legal and administrative backing is essential. The key is to find entry points for government participation and build from there.
There are promising examples.
In the Philippines, the seafood industry, NGOs, and local authorities have come together in shared traceability and legal documentation schemes, demonstrating that even incremental government involvement matters.
In Indonesia, partnership with the country’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries enabled formal fisher and vessel registration drives, unlocking new legitimacy and opportunity for fishing communities.
In Peru’s jumbo flying squid fishery, joint efforts between fishers, the supply chain, and public institutions improved data gathering for management purposes and have also led to improvements in reporting and compliance.
More recently, these collaborative efforts have resulted in the co-design and development of a new fishery management regulation, setting the stage for more ambitious management innovations. These cases show that, with persistence and the right incentives, collaboration is possible, and it pays off.
