Sustainable Fisheries Management for Improved Livelihoods of the Coastal Fishing Community in Tyre, South Lebanon

IUCN and partners are implementing a project in Lebanon to assist the members of the Tyre Fishing Syndicate and their families to jointly improve their livelihoods

The South Governorate, to which Tyre Caza belongs, is the second poorest Governorate, with a 42% prevalence of overall poverty. Within this context, the fishing community forms an economically, socially and culturally distinct, highly specialized but also highly impoverished subgroup, which is stable across generations.

The fishing sector vital for social stability and the survival of the local populations, is threatened by:

  • Destructive, unsustainable fishing methods and practices.
  • Excessive by-catches of non-target organisms; including endangered and protected species and wasteful discards.

The three-year-project, aiming at poverty reduction, sustainable fisheries management, better processing/marketing and supplementary income generation.

The project is expected to achieve a number of results that local communities will benefit from. Economically, the project will explore economic and income generating options for fishermen based on fish storage, processing and marketing facilities and additional income source (tourism, eco-tourism, etc.). The project will also maintain biodiversity and achieve local empowerment through stakeholder involvement, working together and collaboration.

A number of activities and plans are developed to achieve the main five objectives, which have been identified in partnership with the Tyre Fishing Syndicate:

  1. Implement a simple and effective monitoring system covering 60% of the fishing activity.
  2. Elaborate a sustainable fisheries management plan.
  3. Develop an effective local governance system for the fisheries of Tyre.
  4. Generate 1,000 USD/month (starting from 2nd year) of benefits through the management of improved fish storage, processing and marketing facilities.
  • Implemented by: IUCN Regional Office for West Asia (ROWA)
  • Funded by: DROSOS Foundation