For more than a decade now, Crocevia has been working with the international artisanal fisheries movements of the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC) within the FAO processes, fighting for the recognition of the sustainability of artisanal and small-scale fisheries through an international regulatory framework.

In 2014, through our participation in the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), we obtained the approval of the first international instrument dedicated to the defence and promotion of artisanal fisheries: the Voluntary Guidelines for the Protection of Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries, which in a single framework encapsulate all issues relevant to artisanal fisheries and fishing communities with a human rights-based approach.

Globally, some 140 million people are involved in the fisheries sector, 90% of whom are artisanal fishers and provide more than 60% of fish for direct human consumption.

For every fisherman/woman in the artisanal sector, at least four other people – in most cases, women – are engaged in related onshore activities, such as preparing equipment, processing the fish and marketing it.

Crocevia is engaged with grassroots organisations in a bottom-up implementation of these artisanal fisheries guidelines, including at the European and Italian level, to defend a food production model that supports more than half a billion people and contributes to food security.