Abstract
The contribution of fisheries to food systems are largely absent from conceptions of sustainable food systems. At the root of this problem is that fisheries are often seen in terms of maximizing economic efficiency rather than local food security. This perspective piece engages with sustainable diets as a framework for linking fisheries policy with broader food systems considerations asking, how would fisheries policy be different if fisheries were governed with sustainable diets in mind? My discussion is oriented around the case of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world and home to commercial, recreational, and Indigenous fisheries. I review the key policies and legislative frameworks influencing the region’s fisheries from a sustainable diet lens to put forward some recommendations for how policy change in support of sustainable diets may be fostered.
Highlights
Small-scale fisheries play a vital role in the cultures, health, and livelihoods of fishing-dependent communities around the world, including Global North contexts (FAO, 2015; Loring et al, 2013; Lowitt, 2013)
As Seto & Fiorella (2017) write, “resources that originate in our oceans, rivers, and lakes are almost entirely omitted in our conceptions of a sustainable food system” (p. 1)
At the root of this problem is that fisheries are often seen in terms of maximizing economic efficiency rather than local food security (Fisher et al, 2017; Love et al, 2017)
Summary
Small-scale fisheries play a vital role in the cultures, health, and livelihoods of fishing-dependent communities around the world, including Global North contexts (FAO, 2015; Loring et al, 2013; Lowitt, 2013). In addition to efforts by provincial, federal, and Indigenous governments, trans-national bodies were established to deal with environmental and fisheries management concerns including the International Joint Commission and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.
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