Rethinking Coastal Poverty in the Age of the Blue Economy

This is part of the essay series: Sagarmanthan Edit 2025.

The shift toward ocean-based development reflects a strategic response to the growing need for sustainable resource management. With terrestrial resources under pressure, the ocean remains an underutilised frontier that can support inclusive, resilient, and sustainable growth. For Southeast Asia, this offers an opportunity to integrate marginalised coastal communities into emerging development efforts. Given that a large share of Southeast Asia’s population lives within 100 kilometres of the coast, national strategies can leverage geographic advantage by strengthening maritime sectors and anchoring economic growth in ocean-based resources.

Yet despite rising national GDPs, 20–30 percent of the 270 million people in coastal areas remain poor—particularly small-scale fishers, subsistence aquaculture workers, and informal coastal labourers. Based on National Ocean and Coast reports submitted to PEMSEA (2023), this translates to 54–81 million people who remain economically marginalised. This paper surfaces the persistent poverty challenge in Southeast Asia’s coastal areas and raises considerations for building inclusive blue economies.

Based on National Ocean and Coast reports submitted to PEMSEA (2023), this translates to 54–81 million people who remain economically marginalised.

Apart from Singapore and Brunei, coastal communities across Southeast Asia, particularly in Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, are disproportionately poor.  In the Philippines, poverty incidence in coastal areas was  30.6 percent in 2023, double the national average of 15.4 percent. Indonesia reported  17.7 million poor coastal residents compared to 8.4 million in non-coastal areas,  while in Vietnam, poverty remains higher along coasts, especially among ethnic minorities and small-scale fishers.

These communities are not only income-poor but “multi-dimensionally poor”. Their condition reflects “structural and multi-generational poverty,” rooted in systemic social, economic, and institutional inequalities, rather than temporary income loss.

Poverty in Coastal Areas 

Poverty in coastal areas stems from economic marginalisation, environmental vulnerability and policy neglect. Livelihoods in these regions are seasonal, climate-sensitive, and poorly integrated into national and regional value chains, leaving households with unstable income and limited scope for savings or reinvestment. Despite abundant marine resources, benefits are unevenly captured by large industries, traders, and middlemen, while small-scale fishers and coastal households are excluded from decision-making and support systems. The result is chronic poverty persisting amid marine wealth.

They depend on subsistence fishing, gleaning, seaweed farming, and informal trade as their primary sources of livelihood. However, these activities provide low and unpredictable incomes, leaving households highly vulnerable to market fluctuations and the impacts of climate change. Compounding these challenges, nearshore fish stocks are often depleted due to overfishing and environmental degradation, forcing fishers to travel farther and expend more effort for increasingly smaller catches, further straining already precarious livelihoods.

Ongoing environmental degradation, including overfishing and the decline of critical habitats, further erodes marine productivity.

Coastal communities are acutely vulnerable to typhoons, flooding, saltwater intrusion, habitat loss, and land-based pollution. Poor fishers and small-scale aquaculture operators often lack the resources to adapt, relocate, or rebuild their livelihoods after such shocks. Ongoing environmental degradation, including overfishing and the decline of critical habitats, further erodes marine productivity. Consequently, disasters trigger slow and difficult recovery, deepening cycles of poverty and insecurity.

Coastal communities, particularly small-scale fishers and ethnic minorities, are often under-represented in policymaking and development planning. Many lack legal identity documents, boat registrations, or cooperative memberships. Weak marine governance, overlapping mandates, and the absence of legal recognition for informal fishers exclude them from essential government support, including fuel subsidies, affordable credit, and social protection programmes. This entrenches their vulnerability and limits their capacity to improve livelihoods or recover from shocks.

Innovative Opportunities for the Blue Economy in Coastal Communities

Several underutilised opportunities in the blue economy could significantly boost incomes for marginalised coastal communities, especially when initiatives prioritise equity, sustainability, and meaningful local participation. These livelihoods extend beyond traditional fishing, offering pathways to more diversified and resilient economic activity. Since many of these options may be unfamiliar to local communities, interventions must be co-created to ensure relevance, ownership, and long-term success. Listening to communities and aligning with their priorities should be central to any development approach.

Value chain upgrading can significantly reduce poverty, particularly when it enhances market access, product quality, and local processing capacity. Coastal communities that are organised, trained, and willing to co-invest are more likely to sustain and scale these initiatives.  Prioritising such communities increases the likelihood of long-term impact, while isolated interventions risk limited follow-through.  Where gaps exist, government support is essential to overcome regulatory barriers and facilitate market access.

Value chain upgrading can significantly reduce poverty, particularly when it enhances market access, product quality, and local processing capacity.

An example of effective value chain upgrading is the fish cracker industry on Bawean Island, 150 km from Gresik in East Java, Indonesia. Although fish were abundant, production was initially limited to local consumption. Interventions such as building local business institutions to access financial services, standardising product quality, and strengthening branding and packaging have increased production more than fivefold since 2021. Communities will require support to establish non-formal business institutions and secure permits for operation and distribution. Meaningful local participation, including shared risks and investments, is essential to ensure these efforts are sustained.

Coastal communities should be introduced to digital platforms and traceability systems to connect directly with buyers, offering fairer prices. This allows them to bypass exploitative intermediaries and capture a greater share of market value. By engaging in basic value addition, such as drying, salting and smoking products collectively and using mobile applications or e-commerce platforms, fishers can improve product quality and access wider markets, and earn higher returns. Examples of such initiatives on the Southeast Asia-based Shoppe and Lazada platforms are listed in Table 1.

Table 1: Examples of local community-organised fisheries enterprises online in Southeast Asia

Source: Shopee, Lazada and Facebook e-commerce platform sellers compiled by the author

Many innovations in aquaculture technologies, particularly restorative approaches, are emerging, including land-based systems for fish, shellfish, and other invertebrates. New technologies allow for rearing diverse species and developing novel products. National strategies should channel these efforts to serve mass, mid-range and high-value markets, including feeds, food, and pharmaceuticals. These advancements can create new industries and expand livelihood options for coastal communities. Higher-value products, however, require greater investment and reliable market access.  Success will depend on community adoption, availability of funding, investor interest, and workforce development to support these emerging industries.

A clear example of a successful new-industry model is Southeast Asia’s seaweed farming sector. What began as experimental cultivation of Kappaphycus and Eucheuma in the 1970s is now a billion-dollar industry, with marginalised coastal households, especially women, becoming key suppliers to global carrageenan markets. Similar transformations are underway in blue carbon projects, abalone ranching, and sea cucumber mariculture, where innovations expand market opportunities while promoting conservation and resilience for vulnerable coastal communities.

Any investment, by government, NGOs, or the private sector, should be sensitive to community needs, co-creation participation, and, where possible, co-investment.

Along similar lines, coastal communities are already familiar with fermentation technologies in producing fish pastes, fish sauce, and nipa vinegar.  They could benefit from hygiene training to scale up production safely and explore niche products, such as seaweed fermentation for kombucha, compost from excess biomass, or alternative proteins for feed. Any investment, by government, NGOs, or the private sector, should be sensitive to community needs, co-creation participation, and, where possible, co-investment.

Coastal communities can generate income by providing environmental services, such as mangrove reforestation, seagrass protection, and participation in blue carbon credit schemes. Realising these opportunities requires integration into broader climate finance mechanisms and emerging carbon markets. Success depends on sustained dialogue on project design and governance, training to build local capacity, and supportive government policies, including fiscal incentives and mechanisms linking communities to carbon buyers, ensuring tangible benefits.

Conclusion

The renewed focus on a sustainable blue economy offers a chance to break the entrenched cycle of structural poverty in coastal communities across the Philippines and Southeast Asia. Decades of limited livelihoods, poor infrastructure, and unequal access to marine resources have trapped these communities in persistent poverty. Investing in inclusive, climate-resilient ocean-based industries can create new pathways for economic mobility, employment, and long-term development.

A blue economy framework that prioritises equity, ecosystem health, and local participation could be a turning point for communities long excluded from mainstream growth.

Carmen Ablan Lagman is a Professor at De La Salle University, Philippines

• Maritime Security
• Maritime Infrastructure
• India
• autonomous ships
• blue economy in coastal communities
• fish cracker industry
• india maritime industry
• international maritime organization
• maritime autonomous surface ships
• maritime sector in india

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