 Marine fisheries employ millions of people around the world. Many of them working as small-scale coastal fishes and fish workers. But overfishing, pollution and climate change threaten coastal ecosystems such as mangroves and coral reefs. The ecosystem approach to fisheries, EAF, can help write the balance between human activity and nature. It is a holistic approach that safeguards human well-being and biodiversity at the same time, to achieve environmentally, economically and socially sustainable fisheries along the world's coasts, especially in developing countries such as Carbo Verde, where thousands of people depend on small-scale fisheries along its 1,020 kilometers of coast. Cote d'Ivoire, where fisheries provide hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and Senegal, where artisanal coastal fisheries contribute significantly to GDP. Ecuador has tens of thousands of artisanal fishes and an artisanal long-line fishing fleet of thousands of vessels. In Peru, the fisheries value chain provides tens of thousands of jobs, contributing to national exports and GDP. In these five countries, the Coastal Fisheries Initiative promotes ecosystem-based, collaborative management between policymakers, local communities and the private sector. Indonesia's coast is home to hundreds of species of reef-building corals, thousands of species of reef fish and millions of people who depend on these waters for their food and livelihoods. The Coastal Fisheries Initiative works to improve coastal fisheries management and preserve the environment in three of Indonesia's 11 fisheries management areas. They cover over 1.6 million square kilometers of coastal waters and some of the most biodiverse marine habitats on Earth. Recognizing the link between marine conservation and the nation's food security, the Indonesian government has implemented an EAF approach, creating 17 million hectares of marine protected areas that provide a refuge for biodiversity and fishery production. Empowering women in fisheries value chains, plus sustainable mangrove management, plus an ecosystem approach that lets organisms replenish themselves and nature do its job, equals thriving coastal communities.