Challenges and opportunities in the fishing sector in El Salvador

The document analyzes the significant participation of women in Salvadoran artisanal fishing, representing almost half of the workforce throughout the value chain from capture to commercialization. It examines the "Manos que Alimentan" project that seeks to promote productive diversification of the artisanal fishing sector with emphasis on women's economic autonomy between 2023-2026. It identifies the main challenges of the sector including contamination of coastal and marine resources, lack of adequate fishing regulation, and disorderly infrastructure development. It highlights that fishing and aquaculture contribute 1% to the national GDP and employ 27 thousand artisanal fishermen, facing sustainability problems due to high fisher density (60 per kilometer of coast). It proposes strategies to strengthen research capacity, marine technology transfer and conservation of coastal ecosystems to guarantee food security and sustainable development.