The Fisheye

Workers in small scale fisheries make up over 90% of all seafood employees. These small fisheries, spread from Chile to Belize to Vietnam, catch 50% of the seafood eaten around the world. Small scale fishing can be a hard life — long days on the water, stock fluctuations due to climate change or overfishing, and often low prices. Still: fishing is a lifestyle, a living, a tradition, and a way to support families and communities. For small scale fishers who want to improve their practices, modernize their operations, or make changes to ensure they’re fishing sustainably, support and resources can be hard to come by. We’re out to change that.

Ever since she was a little girl, Patricia Purizaca accompanied her mother to work at the Máncora pier. Two years ago, when her mother got sick, Patricia decided to leave her job in the district municipality and start her own business, a small restaurant stand on the dock by that very same pier. This is where she greets fishermen returning from their long work at sea, fish handlers, and the occasional tourist who is interested in the reality of the people who make their living from the ocean.

Luis Solís, born and raised in the commune of Renca, is a tireless worker and champion for his community, dedicated to working with small scale producers and businesses to improve food supply chains and access to nutritious food for all Chileans. Over the course of his career in both the private and public sectors, he observed a lack of connection and organization between workers causing inefficiencies in the food supply system, as well as a growing concern over the declining nutrition, health, and wellbeing of his fellow Chileans. Luis’s passion for finding solutions to these two issues drive the work he does today.

Diego, Future of Fish's Latin America Business Innovations Lead, joined us a last year after a series of positions in the marine resource management and sustainable fishing field. 

Diego earned his Master's degree in Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at the University of California in Santa Barbara with a specialization in Coastal Marine Resources. He has worked as a researcher on projects ranging from human rights abuses on fisheries on a global scale, to the social-ecological adaptive capacity to climate change for small scale fishing communities in Chile and Mexico. We asked Diego a few questions about his background, and what he’s looking forward to this year with Future of Fish:

Abril 30, 2020 Durante una pandemia mundial, ¿qué sucede con los pescadores de mundo? Esta semana, el ONG Future of Fish anunció sus planes para apoyar a los pescadores y a las comunidades pesqueras en este momento sin precedente. La propagación y los efectos devastadores de la pandemia COVID-19 han paralizado un gran parte del mundo. Pero los peces siguen nadando como de costumbre, y los pescadores a menor escala de todo el mundo siguen dependiendo de los océanos para su sustento, y la seguridad alimentaria de sus comunidades. Pero los pescadores están en aprietos, dado que miles de millones de personas están confinadas en sus casas, la economía mundial está en crisis, las cadenas de suministro se han interrumpido, y ya no pueden vender o distribuir su pescado como de costumbre.