Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission

Make sure fisheries and aquaculture are on the Climate Change agenda!

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:48:11 +0700

Don't let fish slip through the climate change net
Over 400 million of the worlds poorest depend on fish for food. How will they adapt to climate change?

Fish need to be on the agenda this December at the UN Climate Change Conference.

Check these links and send them to fisheries colleagues.

Find out what's at stake!"

Worldfish Centre work on Climate Change

Updated global datasets on fisheries 1950-2007

Fri, 29 May 2009 11:54:57 +0700

The FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department has recently updated the global datasets on fisheries for FishStat:

Total Fishery Production 1950-2007
Capture Production 1950-2007
Aquaculture Production 1950-2007

Download here:
http://www.fao.org/fishery/statistics/software/fishstat/en

FishStat Plus is a universal software for fishery statistical time series

Ghost nets hurting marine environment

Wed, 6 May 2009 15:01:56 +0700

Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear is impacting fish stocks and poses a hazard to boats. stocks through "ghost fishing" and posing a hazard to ships, according to a new report jointly produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

2008 State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report (SOFIA 2008)

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 08:46:22 +0700

Existing responsible fishing practices need to be more widely implemented and current management plans should be expanded to include strategies for coping with climate change, according to the latest edition of the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA).

SOFIA identifies overcapacitya combination of too many boats and highly effective fishing technologies as a key problem affecting fisheries today. The report also paints a clear picture of the importance of fishing and aquaculture in the developing world. Further, SOFIA also includes chapters on the occupational safety of fishers, seafood certification schemes, marine genetic resources, shrimp fishing, and the use of wild fish as seed and feed in aquaculture.

The full report can be downloaded at:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0250e/i0250e00.htm

Planned treaty will close ports to fish pirates

Sun, 1 Feb 2009 15:01:54 +0700

The general outlines for an international agreement or treaty on "port State measures" that would deny vessels engaged in IUU fishing access to fishing ports are largely in place, following five days of talks were representatives of over 80 countries have made significant progress in negotiating a binding international agreement aimed at closing ports to ships involved in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

After the agreement becomes active, fishing vessels that wish to land will be required to request permission from specially designated ports ahead of time, transmitting information on their activities and the fish they have on board - this will give authorities an opportunity to assess and detect possible problems prior to docking.

Information-sharing networks will enable countries to deny port access to any vessel previously reported as involved in IUU fishing by other agreement participants or by regional fisheries management organizations. And the designated landing ports will be equipped to undertake inspections of boats in order to monitor for evidence of IUU fishing activities. An international plan of action to combat IUU fishing and a model scheme for better port State measures developed by FAO provided the basis for the draft agreement currently under discussion.

More funding needed in fight against illegal fishing

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:10:00 +0700

FAO project helps countries close ports to pirate fishers, but additional support required

Rome, 24 June 2008 FAO today appealed to donor countries for US$1 million to support a project designed to help developing countries deny port access to boats involved in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

In the developing world, fishing plays a crucial role in reinforcing household food security, improving nutrition, and providing income. In light of rising world food prices and growing concern over the wellbeing of some wild fish stocks, we can afford less than ever to allow IUU fishing to impact these communities, FAO Assistant-Director General for Fisheries, Ichiro Nomura, said at a briefing session with donor countries today.

The funds would be used to finance an ongoing FAO project launched in 2005 when the UN agency developed a Model Scheme for stronger port state measures that could be adopted by countries in order to combat IUU fishing.

Port State measures include activities such as undertaking inspections of documentation, catches and equipment when boats land to take on fuel and supplies or offload fish or requiring vessels to make activity reports before entering port. Vessels found to be involved in IUU fishing can be denied docking rights, causing considerable financial losses to their owners. Such measures are among the most-effective means of preventing the import, transhipment or laundering of illegally caught fish.

IUU fishing is particularly problematic in the developing world, where limited funds and expertise mean that oversight of fishing activities in coastal waters is often lax and port controls are weak. Developing countries are targeted by IUU fishers because they provide convenient entry points for illegal catches.

"These countries need exposure to state-of-the art practices, training for their line officials, and to establish better lines of communication at the regional level to share information on offenders and harmonize actions, said Mr Nomura.

To meet these needs, FAO initiated a series of regional workshops in order to assess the status of port state measures in different parts of the world, identify ways regions might incorporate components from FAOs Model Scheme, and promote greater harmonization of port state measures. The workshops are targeted to port inspectors, fisheries authorities, legal experts, foreign affairs officials and customs officers.

Nomura added that momentum is building towards the adoption in the near future of a legally binding international agreement on port state measures based on the FAO Model Scheme, lending additional urgency to the need to build national capacities for implementing effective port state measures.

The workshops will allow countries to hit the ground running when the international agreement comes into force, he said.

Successful outcomes in five regions

To date five regional port state measures workshops have been held: the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, southern Africa and Southeast Asia.

In all five regions regional cooperation on port state measures has deepened as a result. In the case of the Mediterranean workshop a regional scheme on port state measures was generated and subsequently adopted by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean.

Additional national-level workshops were held in Mauritania and Senegal in June 2008 with follow-up sessions scheduled for July 2008.

FAO has received numerous requests from other regional blocs for additional workshops and would like to organize at least six more by 2010 in the Near East, the Caribbean, West Africa, South Asia, Central America and South America.

These workshops are giving countries who have long struggled with the problem of illegal fishing new tools that they are already using to deal with the problem, Mr Nomura said. To continue this effort and span the globe via more workshops an additional US$1 million is required, and we are calling on the international community to help.

Binding treaty on the horizon

FAOs appeal comes during a Technical Consultation being held this week at the UN agencys Rome headquarters in which country representatives and experts are working on a draft text for a binding international agreement that would require parties to implement a minimum standard for port state measures.

The need for a binding instrument has been widely acknowledged in international fora including the United Nations General Assembly and the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI). The outcome of this weeks consultation will be reported to COFI in 2009.