Resource information
This Fisheries Sector Approach Paper has
been written in recognition of the mounting challenges that
the World Bank and the developing world face in meeting the
fishery sector-related Millennium Development Goals and the
outcomes of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable
Development. It augments the Bank's Rural Strategy,
Reaching the Rural Poor, which advocates a holistic approach
to rural poverty reduction, and support for equitable
growth. The paper also builds on the World Bank's
Environmental Strategy, Making Sustainable Commitments, a
major pillar of which is the protection of the regional and
global commons, in addition to the improvement in the
quality of life and the quality of growth of the World
Bank's clients. The paper treats the needs of the
sector in greater depth, focusing in particular on the
improvement of the livelihoods of the millions of poor
fishers, and the sustainability of the inland and marine
regional and global commons, which define the quality of
life of their users. Also, public and international
awareness has been raised by an ever increasing stream of
evidence that many of the world's fisheries are
over-fished, catches are declining, and fishers'
livelihoods are degrading along with the natural ecosystems
they exploit