As the global community prepares to gather for the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice later this month, a critical question looms: how do we protect the ocean and the billions who depend on it while avoiding solutions that push communities to the margins? The answer… is fishers.

It’s tempting to treat fishing as the villain in marine conservation. Images of depleted fish stocks, destroyed coral reefs and marine life tangled in nets rightly provoke public outcry. Industrial fleets, using bottom trawls and factory ships, have caused undeniable and irresponsible damage, scraping the ocean floor, emptying ecosystems, wiping out species – many undiscovered – and contributing significantly to the ocean crisis.

But let’s be clear: the problem isn’t fishing. Without a doubt, it is destructive fishing. And the solution isn’t to exclude fishers – it is to empower the right ones to lead.

Around 60 million people worldwide rely directly on fishing for their livelihoods. Three billion people depend on fish as a significant source of protein. Among them are millions of small-scale fishers, whose practices are often selective, seasonal, and guided by generations of ecological knowledge. These are not exploiters. They are stewards — and they are central to our shared future.

The global push to protect 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030, the so-called “30×30” target, is ambitious, necessary, and long overdue. Yet with less than five years remaining, only 8% of the ocean is currently under protection and less than 3% is fully or highly protected. Within this 8%, enforcement is often weak or non-existent, and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are often paper parks – areas protected in name only.

In the rush to hit numeric targets, there is a danger that we lose sight of what actually makes ocean protection work: collaboration, credibility and community ownership.

Fauna & Flora’s work across the globe shows what happens when local knowledge and leadership are respected and supported. In São Tomé & Príncipe, fishers are helping draw boundaries and establish rules for the country’s first MPAs. In Scotland, local divers and fishers pushed for the creation of Lamlash Bay, the country’s first community-led marine reserve. In Gökova Bay, Türkiye, where former fishers now patrol no-take zones, fish stocks are rebounding and local economies are recovering.

These are not isolated pilot projects. They are proof of concept — and increasingly, the blueprint for effective conservation.

Research supports what we’ve seen on the ground: conservation is more effective, and more sustainable, when it is locally led. The people who live closest to high-biodiversity areas often hold the deepest knowledge of those systems – and they have the most to lose when they collapse. They must be co-owners of the process, not passive stakeholders or barriers to navigate.

This principle has never been more urgent to put into practice. Ocean, the new film by long-time Fauna & Flora patron, Sir David Attenborough, starkly reveals the destruction caused by unsustainable fishing practices, but also shows the ocean’s remarkable ability to recover when given the chance.

That recovery won’t come through decree alone. It depends on partnership and on long-term, properly funded support for the people already leading the effort on the ground, including the fishers.

That’s why local leadership must be matched with global financing. Coastal communities need boats, fuel, legal backing, training and monitoring tools to enforce protections and manage their marine resources effectively. This isn’t charity, it’s an investment: in food security, biodiversity, climate resilience and human dignity.

Above all, we must reframe the narrative. Marine conservation isn’t about shutting people out. It’s about bringing the right people in, while giving them a fighting chance by phasing out destructive practices that wreak havoc for people and nature alike.

The fishers who have lived with the ocean for generations who know its rhythms and rely on its health are not the problem. They are the solution. Let’s give them the tools and trust. Let’s give them the regulations they want and need. Let’s give them the power to lead. 

And let’s make Nice the moment we move from promises to action. The ocean doesn’t need more declarations it needs delivery. Communities are ready. The science is clear.

It’s time to stop talking and start doing.

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