Samenvatting

Food security, climate resilience and sustainable food systems are challenges no country or institution can solve alone. They require trusted partnerships, long-term scientific collaboration and the ability to connect deep expertise with urgent global needs. We travel to the Lau Lagoon in the Solomon Islands, where the project Forgotten Fisheries is helping bring an often-overlooked part of coastal life into view: shellfish, women’s work and the marine resources that sustain families, livelihoods and cultures across the Pacific coast.The article follows the collaboration between Jan van der Ploeg, lecturer and researcher at Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, and Janet Saeni-Oeta, Country Director for WorldFish in the Solomon Islands. Through the NWO-funded Senior Expert Programme in the NL-CGIAR research programme, Jan supports WorldFish colleagues in turning years of field-based knowledge into scientific publications that can inform policy and strengthen the visibility of small-scale coastal fisheries.