Regional Dialogue 11. Data for Small-Scale Fisheries: From Invisible Catch to Rapid Payout

Ocean Accounts, Standardised data, and social protection for coastal communities. Small-scale fishers, aquaculture producers and coastal MSMEs sustain much of South and South-East Asia’s food security, yet they are among the most exposed to storms, monsoon disruption and marine heatwaves, and among the least visible in the data systems meant to protect them. This session asks what it would take to close that gap: how fisheries data can be structured within an ocean accounts frame so it is reliable enough to trigger support within days of a hazard, what national planning bodies need to see before a pilot becomes a funded programme, and how countries can connect to the emerging regional and global architecture for pre-arranged climate finance. Guest panellists: Dr Haspinor Binti Teh Faculty of Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Malaysia Dr Chomchanok Arunplod Head, Department of Geography Faculty of Social Sciences Srinakharinwirot University Thailand