Conservation International study says small-scale fishers get little retail value

Small-scale fishers retain just 4 percent to 22 percent of the retail price for sustainable seafood, while most of the value remains concentrated among downstream importers, distributors, and retailers, SeafoodSource reported based on a new study by Conservation International.

The research, titled “Who benefits from sustainable seafood? Examining equity across voluntary sustainability standards in small-scale fisheries,” examined skipjack tuna fisheries in the Maldives, blue swimming crab fisheries in India, and yellowfin tuna fisheries in Indonesia. Investigators found a structural asymmetry across all three regions. Buyers face no mandates to disclose profit margins, pricing data, or sourcing commitments, whereas upstream fishers shoulder the expenses of monitoring, certification, and climate-driven disruptions to fish distribution.

“Across all three cases, we find that most retail value accrues to downstream actors (importers, retailers, distributors), with fishers receiving between 4 percent and 22 percent of retail price,” the study stated. Researchers determined that fishers routinely suffer from the lowest gross and operating profit margins in seafood supply chains. The study attributed this disparity to fishers operating as price-takers rather than price-setters due to a lack of market information, an organized voice, or being captive to specific traders and buyers.

Fishers Remain Unaware of Sustainability Program Benefits

Lead author Shreya Yadav, Conservation International’s program manager for seafood markets and equity, noted that investigators struggled to find measurable economic improvements for fishers taking part in voluntary sustainability standards, which encompass ratings, improvement projects, and certifications. Interviews and workshops revealed that many fishers and fishing communities remain entirely unaware that they participate in these programs.

Poverty, debt, and climate change create baseline hurdles that existing sustainability frameworks fail to address. Elena Finkbeiner, Conservation International’s coastal community fisheries director and co-author of the study, emphasized the connection between financial viability and environmental outcomes. “If you don’t pay attention to the social inequities fishers face, you’re never going to reach your environmental sustainability goals,” Finkbeiner said. “You can’t expect somebody to commit to sustainable fishing in the long term if they’re not earning enough to live.”

Fair Trade and Local Partnerships Increase Fisher Awareness

The study pointed to Fair Trade certification as a model making headway by tracking equity as an outcome and building participatory approaches into its framework. Fisher awareness of Fair Trade reached 82 percent in the Maldives, compared to just 6 percent awareness for the Marine Stewardship Council in the same location. Conversely, in Indonesia, local associations prioritized community involvement, resulting in high awareness for both the Marine Stewardship Council and Fair Trade.

Local organizations analogous to Asosiasi Perikanan Pole & Line dan Handline Indonesia and Masyarakat dan Perikanan Indonesia were highlighted by the study as local institutions that funders should actively invest in to support capacity.

Conservation International researchers urged certification bodies to embed participatory processes, asked funders to support local institutions, called for market actors to adopt pricing transparency via living income benchmarks, and urged state authorities to address the underlying structural pressures affecting producer communities.