The Communications programmes of ICSF are of several kinds. Findings of research studies, monitoring activities, and reports of conferences and workshops are published as Monographs, Dossiers and Conference Proceedings.

Dissemination of information on the activities of ICSF, as well as on major developments in fisheries, is achieved through the publication, thrice a year, of SAMUDRA Report, in English, French and Spanish. SAMUDRA Report has been a vehicle for debates on various conflicting issues like ecolabelling, co-operation with green NGOs, coastal shrimp aquaculture, etc. It has also been carrying articles on traditional fisheries management practices in different parts of the world, and on the role of women in fisheries.

SAMUDRA Report has come to occupy a unique position in the world of fisheries, reflected in The Ecologist’s assessment of it as being probably the only international voice for small-scale fishing communities worldwide. Over the years, as the principal mouthpiece of ICSF, the journal has evolved editorially in the scope and depth of its coverage of fisheries issues that affect the lives and working conditions of fishing communities in the small-scale artisanal sector.

ICSF has also published Conversations, a trialogue amongst three persons actively and intimately involved in the fishworker movements of their countries, namely, Canada, Senegal and India.

The Communications component of ICSF’s programmes has been substantially aided and influenced by the Documentation Centre, set up in mid-1999.

The primary objective of the DC is to make information of relevance accessible to members of ICSF, fishworker organizations and NGOs, as well as academia, media and the general public. Apart from providing information per se, the DC also provides links to other information resources relevant to fisheries.

The DC has brought out information packages in the form of Postings.

The DC also produces multimedia content, in the form of interactive CDs and videos. The first, Indian Ocean 2001, provides information on different aspects of the fisheries and resources of 16 countries in the Indian Ocean Region. It was produced for the Indian Ocean Conference.

Fisheries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the DC’s second interactive CD, provides information for 25 countries in the West African region.

Smoke in the Water is a 14-minute video exposition (in English and French) on problems and prospects for developing artisanal fish trade in West Africa.

A Step Forward, an 18-minute video, deals with women’s contribution/roles in the fisheries in various maritime States of India.

 Right to survive: turtle conservation and fisheries livelihoods, deals with the conservation and livelihood issues in turtle conservation in Orissa, India

Shifting undercurrents is a documentary film focusing on women seaweed collectors in Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu, India.