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Policy on Fisheries

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Introduction

The fisheries sector has been a significant recipient of assistance from the Bank, which has become an important source of multilateral financing for fisheries development in a number of its developing member countries (DMCs). As of the end of 1996, the Bank had approved loans totaling $1,125.78 million for 52 fisheries projects in 18 DMCs, and 105 technical assistance (TA) grants amounting to about $33.19 million. Fisheries components have also been included in many integrated area development projects. These investments have targeted enhanced economic growth of the DMCs through increasing production, productivity, and exports, thereby generating and increasing employment and income, particularly for small-scale fishers.

The Bank's fisheries operations began with the approval of its first TA grant in 1968 and the first fisheries loan in 1969. It was not until ten years later, however, that the Bank formally adopted a set of policies for the sector. A Staff Working Paper¹ prepared in 1979 laid down the guiding principles of Bank operations in fisheries, and these have so far been the basis of the Bank's interventions in the sector. The Bank's projects have emphasized the importance of fisheries as a source of high-protein food, particularly for lower income groups, and its significant impact on economic growth, employment generation, and potential for foreign exchange earnings. The formulation of Bank projects has been based on fisheries resource availability, Government plans, and the economic and financial viability of projects proposed. An integrated approach has frequently been adopted incorporating a chain of operations from the capture or culture of fish to preserving and marketing in domestic and/or export markets, with emphasis on appropriate, low-cost technology wherever feasible.

The pattern of Bank lending in the fisheries sector changed perceptibly over the years, reflecting the changing needs of the DMCs and the evolving policy imperatives of the Bank. The principal focus of Bank lending in the fisheries sector, until the mid-1980s, was the marine fisheries subsector, with emphasis on improvement of fishing technology, fishing vessels, and shore-based support facilities and related infrastructure, and support for the rapid expansion of aquaculture in the Asian and Pacific Region. Starting in the late 1980s, the Bank's lending has increasingly emphasized policy reform, explicit considerations of the environment and the community, strengthening of institutions, research, and training. Notwithstanding these shifts, the Bank's policy for the sector has not been addressed formally since 1979.

Significant developments have emerged in the fisheries sector that impinge on Bank policies. With increases in population, human impacts have become more pronounced on the environment and its renewable resources such as fish. Conflicting demands for the use of scarce resources render more complex the question of how best to manage, conserve, and use such resources sustainably. In recent years, the poverty-environment-fisheries nexus has received increasing attention from national governments and international organizations. Several international forums have addressed the concerns about the significant overexploitation of fisheries resources and changes that have damaging effects on the environmental quality of the habitat required by fish. These international initiatives and enhanced national awareness of interrelated issues are having significant impacts on the fisheries sector.

It is appropriate that the Bank assess these international developments, concomitant changes in the Region, and their implications for the DMCs' and the Bank's policies and strategies for the sector. This is all the more important because the Bank is one of the major sources of financial and technical assistance for fisheries in the Asian and Pacific Region.² It is also timely for the Bank to review the lessons of its experiences and to reexamine its policies in the context of the changing strategic focus of its operations. This Paper explains the importance of fisheries in the Asian and Pacific Region, assesses the Bank's experience in fisheries operations, identifies the emerging challenges and opportunities, and defines a revised and updated strategic basis and policy for future Bank operations in fisheries in its DMCs. The Paper is based on the Bank's experience in the sector, including lessons from the Bank's postevaluation findings; a review of relevant literature; extensive in-house dialogue; views of selected DMC governments; and consultations with major bilateral and multilateral agencies, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and research institutions.

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