Issues and Problems of Small-Scale Fishing (SSF) Communities in South Asia: A Comprehensive Overview Indian Journal of Ecology (2020) 47(3): 775-781 Manuscript Number: 3083 NAAS Rating: 4.96 Abstract: Fishing and aquaculture activities have become the main suppliers of food and nutrition all around the world. These two activities are also the source of livelihood for many people across the globe. Almost 90% of the global fish production takes place in Asia, specifically in South Asian countries. However, issues like over-fishing, lack of governance, and sustainability have started to threaten SSF communities around the region. This conceptual paper aims to examine issues and problems plaguing SSF communities in South Asian countries. The data reveal that the adverse effects of climate change has seriously impended lives and livelihoods of fishing communities. In this regard, ethnic fishing communities are more vulnerable to globalization, emergence of capital penetration, poverty-stricken conditions and being entrapped in high debt. Communities of SSF have partial set of skills and resources for coping with the ever-changing internal and external elements, including shocks and vulnerabilities. This paper also presents recommendations for policy changes, including livelihood diversification, policy inclusion and capacity development to improve lives and livelihoods of these economically and socially downtrodden people. Keywords: South Asia, Issues, Challenges, Fisheries communities Mohammed Mamun Rashid, Azlinda Azman*, Paramjit Singh Jamir Singh and Md Isahaque Ali Social Work Programme, School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia *E-mail: azlindaa@usm.my Fishing is a form of traditional occupations and people have been fishing for food since the beginning of mankind. The important role and contribution of SSF have been historically articulated and conventionally recognized in several areas like social and economic development, food security and employment. Human consumption of fish has doubled (3.2%) in comparison to population growth (1.11%) in the past five decades, resulting in the increase in the normal per capita obtainability of fish beyond 20 kilograms (Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2018). At the global level, 171.1 million tons of fish are produced annually from fisheries and aquaculture activities. Subsequently, fish has highly contributed to food and nutrition security. Fish accounts to nearly 17% animal protein consumption worldwide, and up to 72% of animal protein consumption in some South Asian countries. Almost 90% of the global fish production takes place in Asia, specifically in South Asian countries like India and Bangladesh, which are ranked as the 2 and 5 biggest fish producers in the world. Mass nd th consumption, habitat destruction, unfair uses of resources and exploitation have put a strain on the natural environment and major depletion of natural resources around the world. This has created serious concern over sustainability. As a result, humans are experiencing negative effects in a variety of ways, procedures and complex responses (Mozumder et al 2019). The supply of fish has become more fragile globally due to excessive fishing and mismanagement and this has brought negative impacts to the world's economy (World Bank 2014). Giri (2018) highlighted the emerging problems of overfishing and lack of sustainability in the SSF in Nepal due to reckless human actions, corrupted market policies and practices. The similar deteriorating trend is also evident in the supply of Tuna Fish in Sri Lanka. Other countries like Korea, Japan and Taiwan have also experienced the decrease in fish supply due to several economic causes and lack of enforcement to control exploitation. Similarly, Pakistan is also suffering from the over-exploiting of its fisheries. Many commercial fish species are facing substantial overfishing and some areas have already exhausted their fish supplies. In this light, Pakistan's maritime areas are largely open and could be accessed by everyone, which exposed this area to exploitation. In addition, the government has limited fishing to control inputs, such as granting fishing licenses or controlling output through the provision of a sharing system. Islam and Chuenpagdee (2013) found that fishing communities are economically and socially vulnerable. They are highly exposed to natural disasters, accidents at sea, pirate attacks, loan sharks, insecurity of food, and drinking water problems, illness and health problems, manipulation as well as social exclusion. Rahman and Schmidlin (2019) stated that fishermen fishing at sea face dangers due to the hostile marine environment, instable boat-based activities, faulty gears, loneliness, and fatigue, which subsequently lead to a high rate of fatality among fishermen. The death of