Small-scale fisheries communities around the world are facing numerous social-ecological challenges. It is widely accepted that social capital can play a key role in poverty reduction for the poor and marginalized fisher households. The poor fishers possess limited capital assets and resources for economic activities, and their livelihoods primarily depend on fishing. This talk highlights the existing literature on the role of social capital and sustainable livelihoods of small-scale fisher communities in Asia. It provides insights into how social capital facilitates cooperation in the community when fishers face livelihood stress, and its crucial role in improving fishers access to a host of assets that strengthen the livelihoods at the household level. This has tremendous implications for building strong and viable small-scale fisheries.

The talk is presented by Dr. Gazi Md Nurul Islam, a Professor of Economics at Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia. He specializes in environmental economics, natural resources management, livelihood and equity, social capital, environmental pollution, marine resource valuation, community based fisheries management, governance of marine resources and marine protected area. Dr. Gazi is currently engaged in global Small-Scale Fisheries projects.