Fishing for development

Fishing for development

Editor

FAO, OECD ;

Descripción

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank organized the Fishing for Development joint meeting, which was held in April 2014 at OECD headquarters in Paris. The meeting was convened to initiate a dialogue between the fisheries and the development policy communities from OECD and FAO Members and partner countries on key issues of shared interest. It addressed four topics high on the internation al fisheries and aquaculture policy agenda: the challenges of rebuilding fish stocks while securing the integrity of ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend on them; the potential for green growth in aquaculture; combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and the role of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) in the management of high seas fish stocks and in developing cooperation between States that share fish stocks in several exclusive economic zones (EEZs). The meeting reached a number of conclusions and flagged questions for a future work agenda on policy coherence in fisheries and aquaculture. In particular, it highlighted the need to investigate and publicize the role of fisheries and aquaculture for economic development and food and nutritional security, and the opportunity cost of political inaction. It noted the lack of appropriate data, which results in the lack of tangible evidence on the sector’s contribution to economic development and po verty reduction, and how this also prevents improvements in efficiency. The meeting also agreed on the need to investigate low-cost management options and techniques tested in developing countries, such as co-management of fisheries and participatory surveillance systems. It recommended that further investigation of such options should focus on identifying the necessary preconditions for a successful outcome and how to apply them on a larger scale and in different socio-economic contexts. Anothe r conclusion was that there is a need to improve the resilience of coastal populations. The fisheries sector is often a last resort or buffer for marginalized populations, and there is an urgent need to develop alternative livelihood means (e.g. in ecotourism, aquaculture or fish processing) and social safety nets. The meeting also highlighted the need to leverage development cooperation in fisheries and aquaculture and that a major element for efficient cooperation is the sustainability of proj ect impacts. In addition, the meeting stressed the importance of ensuring that domestic fisheries policies of OECD member countries are coherent with long-term global development objectives and do not harm development prospects in developing countries. The meeting noted that developing countries do not always have the resources to monitor their EEZs effectively and suggested that OECD countries should manage and regulate their fleet’s activities outside their own EEZs more effectively. Participa nts at the meeting also agreed on the need to strengthen the fight against IUU fishing. They underlined the role of development cooperation in building capacity in developing countries and discussed the potential impacts of trade restrictions and consumption decisions. However, there were several viewpoints on import bans given the risks associated with establishing technical barriers to trade. Because some illegal fishing activities contravene international laws and may be linked to other crimi nal activities, such as human trafficking, participants agreed on the need to combat these transnational activities using appropriate tools, such as the Interpol network. The meeting made a strong call for countries to ratify the FAO Port State Measures v Agreement as soon as possible. In addition, the meeting concurred on the need to promote green growth in aquaculture, for example, through investment in productive capacity, research and infrastructure. Topics such as certification and licensin g systems were also discussed. Last, the meeting emphasized the need for developing countries to be better integrated in regional cooperation fora. Several regions suffer from a lack of coherence in actions taken by regional fisheries bodies and regional economic organizations, with overlapping competencies and a lack of political impetus. The OECD countries can help developing countries to build the necessary capacity to participate in RFMOs.