While implementing the Fish Forever Program, Rare Brazil has faced unprecedented challenges: political upheaval, an oil spill on the Northeast coast in 2019, and the 2020 pandemic crisis. Despite this complex reality, Rare established a network of collaborators motivated to overcome these challenges and reform the country’s coastal fisheries. This network has made it possible to advance the agenda for small-scale fisheries (SSF) in Brazil and influence the legal framework to meet this sector’s needs at different levels of governance.