Researchers, state officers, community organisations and civil society working together, since 2018, so that small-scale fishers have a voice in how their fisheries are governed.
Almost everyone who fishes, processes or sells fish in Sri Lanka works in the small-scale sector. Around 2.7 million people depend on it.
Fishers work from beaches, lagoons, reservoirs and nearshore waters, in orus, kattumarams and fibreglass boats. Men mostly fish; women do much of the processing and selling. On average, Sri Lankans eat around 10.8 kg of fish a year.
Yet the sector is threatened more by people than by nature: overfishing, destructive gear, unregulated technology, fuel shocks and climate change. Research in Sri Lanka has studied the fish far more than the fishers, and fishing communities rarely have a seat where decisions are made.
The forum exists to change that. We bring evidence and community experience to the same table, and we work for the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries to become part of national policy.
Four strands of work, all aimed at one outcome: fisheries governed with the people who depend on them.
Members study value chains, post-harvest losses, labour, gender and climate resilience, and publish the results openly.
PublicationsWe advise government on the national fisheries policy and on bringing the SSF Guidelines into law and planning.
Our approachFishers, officials, scientists and industry discuss one issue at a time, such as trawling or fuel, and agree recommendations.
Past platformsWorkshops and field projects with fishing communities, especially women fish processors, from Jaffna to Tangalle.
Savings for Future
With the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka and Australia Awards, the forum is helping women who dry and process fish to save through a mobile app, plan for climate shocks and add value to their products.
About the projectDaily News, 21 November 2025
Written for World Fisheries Day: planners and policy makers need to understand fishing as a way of life, not only as a means of exploiting aquatic resources.
Read on Daily NewsToo Big To Ignore, 28 February 2023
Regional closing event of the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022 for Asia, Bangkok, with SLFSSF among the panel.
Read on Too Big To IgnoreThe Sunday Times, 9 October 2022
The 2022 fuel crisis kept fishers ashore and pushed fish prices past Rs. 3,000/kg, cutting families off from their main source of protein.
Read on The Sunday TimesFor the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture, the forum hosted the first South and South-East Asian Conference on Small Scale Fisheries and Aquaculture at the Ocean University of Sri Lanka, with seven keynotes, around 40 papers and video testimony from fishing communities across the region.
National agencies, universities and international organisations that have hosted, funded or worked alongside the forum.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
SSF Hub
Ocean University of Sri Lanka
National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency
National Aquaculture Development Authority
International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022
