Officially launched in September 2012, this six-year long Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) project is an open network that encourages anyone interested in SSF, including fishers, fisher organizations, practitioners, managers, policy makers, donors, students and researchers to participate in an interactive discussion about SSF. TBTI is a research network knowledge mobilization partnership established to elevate the profile of small-scale fisheries (SSF), to argue against their marginalization in national and international policies, and to develop research and governance capacity to address global fisheries challenges. To address important questions and concerns related to small-scale fisheries, the TBTI partnership is working on developing:
1) Information System for Small-scale Fisheries (ISSF), which will enable the comparative analysis of the meaning of small-scale fisheries and their overall societal contributions;
2) New conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches to assess economic viability, wellbeing and livelihoods, rights and access to resources and markets, and governability of the governance system, using case studies of small-scale fisheries from around the world;
3) Transdisciplinary fisheries course to help build capacity in research and governance. The ISSF provides a platform to integrate scientific and non-scientific knowledge, which can then be disseminated and mobilized through the transdisciplinary fisheries course.
To enhance knowledge mobilization, the TBTI network will focus on training students and post-doctoral fellows and produce books, papers, reports, community handbooks, and policy briefs on SSF.