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

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.

The panel brings together three perspectives that rarely share a stage: lived evidence from fishing communities, the national planning and statistical system, and the regional and global climate risk finance architecture. Together we will work out what needs to change, who is best placed to change it, and how protection can be sustained once a pilot ends.

Session 11: Data for Small-Scale Fisheries: From Invisible Catch to Rapid Payout

🗓️ Thurs 29 September 2026, 14:00 Kuala Lumpur 📍 Online via Zoom - register here

Guest speakers

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