- The Our Ocean Conference in Kenya last month put Africa’s ocean future in the global spotlight, but the real test now is whether new commitments help countries build the systems needed to manage aquatic foods for people and not just for production, trade and conservation, a new op-ed argues.
- Fisheries ministries count landings, and health ministries count nutritional deficiencies, but rarely do the two talk to each other — a problem which can be addressed when the right data is gathered and communicated.
- “If Africa can pivot to managing fisheries not only for how much is produced, but for what the catch means for its people’s nutrition, the next generation of fisheries management will be able to harness its oceans for greater social impact and inclusive development,” writes Essam Yassin, director general of research organization WorldFish.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Off the coast of Timor-Leste, fishers are building something many countries still lack: A clearer picture of how small-scale fishing nourishes people.
For six years, fishers have logged their trips and recorded the gear used, the habitats visited and the catch brought home in a digital system built with the government of Timor-Leste. More than 77,000 trips later, that data has produced a study that urges governments to change how they think about fisheries management.
The value of a catch is not just measured in kilos; where people fish and the gear they use can shape the nutrients that end up in local diets. Small pelagic fish can be rich in iron, calcium, zinc and omega-3s, while marine invertebrates gathered by hand, often by women and usually overlooked in official statistics, can also be nutritionally important. That matters because fisheries are too often managed around what is landed and sold, not who is nourished.
After the first Our Ocean Conference held on African soil, this evidence feels especially timely. That event in Mombasa in June put Africa’s ocean future in the global spotlight, but the real test now is whether new commitments help countries build the systems needed to manage aquatic foods for people and not just for production, trade and conservation.
Now the question is what those commitments will deliver.
For decades, fisheries management has been built around one question: How many tons were landed? How much revenue was generated? How much export value was created?
These are all legitimate questions, but they are incomplete. A country may know exactly how many tons of fish left its harbors last year, while knowing far less about whether those catches reached local families, schools or markets.
Fisheries ministries count landings and health ministries count deficiencies, but rarely do the two talk to each other. That is both a data and a policy problem, which the Timor-Leste study shows can be addressed when the right data exists.
Timor-Leste’s current small-scale fisheries production could potentially meet the protein needs of nearly two-thirds of women of reproductive age, if distribution, access and policy were aligned to make that possible. The country has already invested in aquatic foods as part of its strategy to combat malnutrition with fish intake increasing as a result.
The study also found that these catches could make meaningful contributions to zinc, calcium and omega-3 intake. It shows that fishing method and habitat can help predict the nutritional value of catches, which gives governments a clearer way to think about how fisheries management can support diets, not just landings and revenue.
But governments have to be measuring nutrition in the first place to see these choices clearly.
Across the Indo-Pacific, many coastal communities have seen their traditional diets built around aquatic foods give way to cheaper processed imports. This dietary shift has contributed to some of the highest rates of obesity and heart disease in the world.
So, this is not simply a story about individual choices. It is about what happens when food systems are designed around trade volume without adequate attention to nutritional outcomes, and about the very different trajectory that becomes possible when they are not.
The Timor-Leste study was made possible by Peskas, an open-source digital monitoring system my organization developed in partnership with the national government. It tracks fishing trips in near real time, connecting gear, habitat and catch data in ways that were previously difficult for small-scale fisheries.
Peskas is now being adapted in Kenya, Zanzibar, Mozambique and Malawi. If fisheries data in these contexts can be linked to nutrition data as in Timor-Leste, it could transform how governments understand and manage fisheries, so the catch is counted for nutritional gains and not just weight and revenue.
This doesn’t mean Africa can simply copy Timor-Leste. Fisheries differ by ecosystem, market, governance and community. The data needed to manage fisheries for nutrition does not appear by itself.
But that is precisely the opportunity after Mombasa. African countries don’t need to build fisheries systems around yesterday’s measures alone. With the right investment, they can strengthen systems that make small-scale fisheries more visible, more useful to policymakers and more directly connected to food and nutrition security.
So, what should change?
There are four changes governments and development partners could act on today:
- Include nutrition in fisheries mandates as a core measure of performance. A fisheries management plan that cannot speak to its nutritional contribution is telling only half the story.
- Account for women’s work in small-scale fisheries, from gleaning marine invertebrates to processing fish and supplying local markets. Their contribution to household nutrition must be visible in data, policy and investment.
- Incorporate local aquatic foods into school meal programs and maternal health initiatives in coastal and riparian communities. Their nutritional value is abundant and can be tapped with supportive policy.
- Rethink where food systems investments go and whether development institutions are investing enough in one of the most powerful nutritional resources on earth. Small-scale fisheries deliver key micronutrients to 2.3 billion people. That is not a niche sector, but part of the nutritional foundation of the global food system.
If Africa can pivot to managing fisheries not only for how much is produced, but also for what the catch means for its people’s nutrition, the next generation of fisheries management will be able to harness its oceans for greater social impact and inclusive development.
Essam Yassin Mohammed is director general of WorldFish, where he leads efforts to advance research and innovation in aquatic food systems.
Banner image: A woman transports a catch of fish from a landing site in coastal Kenya to market. Image by Festo Lumwe/WorldFish via Flickr.
See related coverage:
With its first marine reserve, Ghana protects its ocean to secure its future (commentary)
Our Ocean Conference in Kenya ends with $6.4 billion in pledges, review of past promises
Citations:
Longobardi, L., Bonis-Profumo, G., Altarturi, H., Bogard, J., Dos Reis Lopes, J., Kolding, J., … Tilley, A. (2026). Fishery nutrient profiles provide practical guidance for nutrition-sensitive small-scale fisheries management in Timor-Leste. Nature Food, 7(4), 334-344. doi:10.1038/s43016-026-01313-4
Basurto, X., & Franz, N. (2025). Illuminating the multi-dimensional contributions of small-scale fisheries. doi:10.5194/oos2025-496
Cite this article
Essam Yassin Mohammed (2026). Why Africa should link nutritional data with fisheries management (commentary). Mongabay Conservation news. DOI: https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323387Credits
