A high-priority objective of the Government of Timor-Leste, as articulated in the Timor-Leste Strategic Development Plan (2011 – 2030), is addressing malnutrition and food sovereignty though building national food production systems. Fish can play a very important role in addressing the urgent priority of improved health outcomes in the first 1000 days of life. Fish not only represents a high-quality source of protein, but contains micro-nutrients and fatty acids essential for growth and development that are hard to obtain from other sources. The fisheries sector in Timor-Leste is broadly considered to be underperforming. Efforts to build the sector must be accompanied by development of appropriate strategies and policy to ensure sustainability.