The Small-Scale Fisheries Impact Bond

Rare’s Small Scale Fisheries (SSF) Impact Bond is an innovative financial instrument designed to channel private and philanthropic capital toward the revitalization of coastal communities and ecosystems. The SSF Impact Bond will finance community-led co-management of small-scale fisheries, a proven pathway to meeting the needs of people and nature. The first-of-its-kind Bond uses a novel outcome-based finance (OBF) model that ties financing to results: Funding is only paid out once pre-defined results are independently verified and achieved.

How does the SSF Impact Bond work?

The Bond is structured as a contract; an agreement among multiple parties — investors, service providers, and outcome funders — to achieve specific social or environmental outcomes. The structure involves:

• Investors who provide upfront capital to fund the program or initiative.
• Service providers to implement the project or intervention, aiming to achieve the predetermined outcomes.
• Outcome funders including governments, philanthropic organizations, or other entities that agree to pay for the outcomes achieved.

What problem does the SSF Impact Bond address?

Despite modest progress, global investment in improving ocean health remains woefully inadequate.

[Chart from community seas page]

Sustainably-managed small-scale fisheries (SSF) are vital to coastal economies and healthy ocean ecosystems but the sector faces serious challenges. Often operating in an informal economy without access capital, with ill-defined value due to unrecorded catch, small-scale fisheries are chronically underfunded.

What makes the SSF Impact Bond innovative?

The Bond leverages an outcome-based financing (OBF) model, where investors are repaid by outcome funders only when specific, measurable results are achieved and independently verified. This innovative approach links funding to real-world impact, driving investment toward protecting both biodiversity and the livelihoods of coastal communities. By focusing on outcomes like establishing sustainable fisheries, increasing fish biomass, and stabilizing marine habitats, the Bond ensures that every dollar contributes to tangible, lasting change.

“The Small Scale Fisheries Impact Bond exemplifies the kind of solution we need for scalable, community-driven conservation. By focusing on outcomes, we can drive real impact that benefit both people and the planet while setting a precedent for how future conservation efforts are funded.”

– Karen Sack, Executive Director at ORRAA

Where is the investment going?

The initial investment will fund the Bond’s pilot: the establishment of five new “Managed Access with Reserves (MA+R),” areas in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.

What does success look like for the SSF Impact Bond?

The Bond is a scalable solution for managing fisheries and marine biodiversity, providing countries with a vital pathway to meet their 30×30 goals—protecting 30 percent of land and sea by 2030—while supporting sustainable development and climate resilience. As this initial Bond rolls out, the project partners are already laying the groundwork for replicating and scaling the model. The SSF Impact Bond will be scaled to protect, restore, and sustainably manage thousands of hectares of coastal ecosystems.

Who is investing in the SSF Impact Bond?

Initial Investors
Pershing Square
Minderoo

Outcome Funders
UK DEFRA through the Ocean Risk Reduction Action Alliance
Milkywire
Rumah Foundation
Builders Initiative
Pershing Square
Walton Family Foundation

Technical Partners
Levoca
Reed Smith

When did Rare launch the SSF Impact Bond?

Rare first unveiled the SSF Bond at COP28 in Dubai. On September 24, at an event during Climate Week NYC, Rare announced that it raised US$6 million for the SSF Impact Bond to finance community-led co-management of small-scale fisheries. The initial investment will fund the Bond’s pilot: the establishment of three new community-based conservation management systems in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia called Managed Access with Reserves. 

Why Small-Scale Fisheries?

Nearly 500 million people at least partially depend on small-scale fisheries, most of which are in the thin band of coastal ocean waters just offshore.

Community Seas:
Vital to People & Biodiversity