Community Catch
Community Catch’s Mission:
Community Catch’s mission is to connect small-scale fishers to those markets which bring the greatest benefit for fishing communities and their environment. Community Catch provides the support, tools and connections needed to allow fishing communities to develop sustainability improvements.
Grant Project Goal(s):
This specific project aimed to support fisheries in two of Community Catch’s ongoing five global pilots. In the Indonesia tuna and Mexico snapper pilots, Community Catch developed a process for supporting small-scale fisheries (SSF) engaged in two important aspects; 1) How to engage with and receive the support required to meet the fisheries’ sustainability improvement objectives; 2) Identify how best to link each fishery with an interested and supportive market.
The learning gained from this project informed the process and protocols for how other fisheries can be supported with initiative moving forward.
The project's objectives are twofold:
Establishing the Support Network Linkage Process: Upon completing a self-assessment and a consequent 3rd-party audit, fisheries must develop their improvement action plans, to close the gap identified. Community Catch recognizes that small-scale fishery improvement requires an arena of support, including financial resources, technical expertise, tools and technology. In the Mexican and Indonesian pilots, Community Catch will identify this support network and the process for connecting the fishery with it. This will enable Community Catch to develop a protocol for identifying this network and supporting the process of match-making the fishery with this network in future fisheries and overall for the initiative.
Developing the SSF-Market 'Matchmaking' Process: SSFs can only thrive through Community Catch engagement if they gain market recognition. Community Catch will pilot the market engagement process in Mexico and Indonesia. If existing supply chains in these two fisheries are supportive, Community Catch will assist in promoting 'Community Catch certified' or 'Community Catch improver' products with them. Alternatively, where supply chains are not engaged, Community Catch will endeavour to connect fisheries with new and interested markets. Insights from these pilots will inform the establishment of a standardized process for SSF-market matchmaking.
Background:
Community Catch is a global small-scale fishery (SSF) initiative which aims to promote the prosperity of SSF communities and the sustainability of both global fish stocks and aquatic ecosystems. As a market-based development program Community Catch focuses on the following components:
Certification program (Standard, Improvement pathway to meet the standard, Chain of Custody, Integrated digital platform)
Support infrastructure for SSFs (linking SSFs to on-the-ground support, allowing them to meet their sustainability improvement objectives)
Accessibility, Affordability and Credibility - Community Catch has developed a draft standard and a prototype of a digital platform, with an initial self-assessment module with which SSFs can directly engage.
Upon launch of this initiative, Community Catch envisions that a fishery client will be able to log onto and complete a sustainability self-assessment. The gap between their status and the standard targets defines their improvement requirements.
Key Learnings:
What challenge/need were you facing prior to receiving support from Sea Pact?
Before receiving support from Sea Pact, Community Catch was in the early stages of developing its certification infrastructure for small-scale fisheries (SSFs). A critical gap existed in two key areas:
How to provide SSFs with the right kind of support—technical, organisational, and financial—to meet improvement objectives, and
How to connect these fisheries with credible and interested markets.
We lacked tested systems, models, and infrastructure to operationalise these two crucial components at a global scale.
What changed after being part of Sea Pact’s grant program? What specific outcomes can you share?
Sea Pact’s support enabled us to pilot, learn, and build foundational systems in Indonesia and Mexico that now inform our global approach. Key outcomes include:
Development and implementation of a Support Organisation Database, now integrated into our public-facing website as the "Assistant Provider" network. This allows fisheries to find and engage with relevant technical and capacity-building partners.
Pilot development of Improvement Action Plan templates, informed directly by third-party evaluations in Mexico and Indonesia.
Mapped a SSF-market matchmaking process with existing supply chains, identifying potential market entry points, and led to a Business Model and Fee Structure.
Engagement with market-facing organisations (e.g., WWF, SFP, FishWise) and formation of a formal MoU with FisheryProgress to host Community Catch Fishery Improvement Plan (CCFIP) profiles, extending our fisheries' reach to established market platforms.
Are there any key learnings/takeaways that you can share that would benefit the entire industry?
Small-scale fisheries vary widely in structure and capacity; a flexible support system that includes local consultants, tailored improvement templates, and easy access to verified assistant providers within the region is critical for success of any fishery improvement required.
Market connections must be actively developed. Identifying and documenting credible, transparent supply chains from the beginning, and proactively engaging potential market partners, greatly enhances the viability of certified fisheries accessing premium markets.
Transparency and storytelling are increasingly key to market appeal. Fisheries want recognition, and markets want assurance. Combining digital infrastructure with advisory networks and storytelling improves engagement and trust among both fishers and buyers.n progress.
Learn more at Community Catch.
Additionally support for this project was provided Pepper, a Sea Pact Gold Supporter.
Photo courtesy of Community Catch.