STEP Seafood Trade, Ecosystems and People Preliminary Report: An analysis of small-scale fisheries value chains, market structures and benefits in Unguja, Zanzibar

Small-scale fishery governance has often taken a narrowly approach to sustainability, focusing

either on managing fishing activities, or market-based interventions and overlooking the

embeddedness of fishers within a broader social structure. This project uses a value chain

approach to address these gaps. The aim is to improve our understanding of the interplay

between fisheries governance and market dynamics, and the effects of this on benefit flows and

distribution of marine ecosystem services. This report contains preliminary results and examines

the social dynamics among fishers and traders that may impact benefit flows and ultimately

resource extraction decisions.

The data presented in this report form part of a larger project also aiming to uncover the role of

seafood markets and market actors, like traders, in mediating interactions between the social and

ecological components in local Small-Scale Fisheries systems.