Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission

FAO voluntary global guidelines on responsible governance of land tenure and access rights to land, fisheries and forest resources

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:06:08 +1400

Rome, 13 March 2012 - International talks convened at FAO last week to finalize negotiations on a proposed set of voluntary global guidelines on responsible governance of land tenure and access rights to land, fisheries and forest resources have concluded successfully.

The proposed guidelines are now set to be considered for final approval by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) at a special session in Rome in mid-May.

The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security outline principles and practices that governments and other actors can refer to when administering land, fisheries and forests rights in order to serve the best interests of their populations and promote food security and rural development.

APFIC publishes Asia regional review on climate change in fisheries and aquaculture

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 06:10:00 +1400

The 31st Session of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) has emphasized that adaptation and mitigation of the impacts of climate change related to fisheries and aquaculture is an important challenge for the region. Fisheries and aquaculture in Asia provide considerable trade, employment and food security and some of the densest rural populations of the world are found on coastlines and floodplains of the region. Impacts from climate change such as increasing ocean acidification, shifting fish distributions and more frequent cyclones may increase the negative impacts on capture fisheries which are already at their limits through over exploitation, coastal degradation and pollution. Productivity and viability in aquaculture operations are also expected to be negatively impacted by factors including higher sea water levels, flooding, increased competition for water resources and disease occurrence patterns.
download the review here

Timor-Leste to benefit from closer relations with UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Asia Pacific Fishery Commission

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 01:40:00 +1400

Dili, Timor-Leste 25 October 2011

Speaking at an international workshop today, H.E. Mariano Assanami Sabino, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of Timor-Leste highlighted the benefits the nation would gain from deepening its relationship with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and becoming a member of the Asia Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC).

FAO recently appointed a permanent representative to Timor-Leste while the country became a member of the Asia Pacific Fishery Commission earlier in the year.

“These two advances will positively contribute to food security as well as improved resource management and consequently to the welfare of our nation,” the Minister said.

FAO releases new guidelines for use of wild fishery resources for capture-based aquaculture

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:00:00 +1400

FAO has published technical guidelines on the use of wild fishery resources for capture-based aquaculture, as a supplement the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF). The CCRF and many international agreements and conferences highlight the benefits of and need for adopting an ecosystem approach to fisheries and an ecosystem approach to aquaculture through the principles and concepts elaborated therein.

The objective of the guidelines is to assist countries to develop aquaculture, in particular that involving significant use of natural resources, in a sustainable way that produces the greatest social and economic benefits without compromising the underlying resource base for future generations. The heavy dependence of capture-based aquaculture (CBA) on wild resources and its implications for wild populations have been increasingly recognized in the last decade. These guidelines address the actual and potential impacts of wild-seed harvest on target and non-target (bycatch) species (including threatened species), on biodiversity, and on the environment and marine ecosystem. The guidelines also consider harvest and post-collection practices, grow-out, feed and broodstock, social and economic factors, and governance considerations. They also identify CBA principles and guidelines for good practices, and provide numerous illustrative case studies from a diverse range of species and fisheries.

The PDF publication can be found at the following url: http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/ba0059e/ba0059e.pdf

Use of wild fishery resources for capture-based aquaculture. FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries. No. 5, Suppl. 6. Rome, FAO. 2011. 81 pp.

Recognizing women's role in fishery development

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 08:31:39 +1400

Women play a significant role in fisheries, yet lack of attention to gender roles and relations can result in policies or programmes failing to improve livelihoods or reduce vulnerability of fishing communities. The largely ‘invisible’ role of women in small-scale fisheries must be addressed if actions aimed at improving the livelihoods of small-scale fishers and their families are to be successful.

As part of its efforts to promote gender equity to improve fisheries livelihoods, the Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme for South and Southeast Asia (RFLP) has developed a field handbook that gives guidance on taking gender into account in all phases of small-scale fisheries development projects.

The handbook provides:

An overview of the rationale, concepts and approaches concerning mainstreaming gender equality in development cooperation;
An overview of the role of women in the fisheries sector, the problems they face and possible empowerment opportunities;
Tools for gender analysis in fisheries development projects and guidance on how to integrate gender aspects at various stages in the project cycle.

http://www.rflp.org/mainstreaming_gender/

Pioneering fisheries co-management in Myanmar

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:00:00 +1400

Through the “Sustainable Small Scale Fisheries and Aquaculture Livelihoods in Coastal Mangrove Ecosystems” (GCP/MYA/010/ITA) project, the Department of Fisheries (DOF) in Myanmar is working in partnership with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to promote and undertake pilot level implementation of practices for the co-management of fisheries in a demarcated management area in the Ayerawady Delta. The area covers 13 villages along the main branch of the Bogale River. The project is part of the Environmentally Sustainable Food Security Programme (ESFSP), funded by the Italian Government with a total contribution of US$5.3 million is supporting this initiative

The freshwater and Delta fisheries of Myanmar are largely under a form of management whereby the rights to fish are allocated to individuals in exchange for a fee.
The leasable fisheries of Myanmar are large areas in which fishing rights are granted to individuals (originally through a bidding process, but now often through an allocation process). These individuals may operate the fishing activities themselves or sub-lease the fishing to local individuals who manage or operate the fisheries. In the case of the large leasable fisheries, which are considered to be very profitable, the lease holder may manage the operation themselves.

New report to guide responsible fishing practices in South East Asia

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 01:52:27 +1400

13 September 2011. The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has today released a report to help guide future strategies to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in South East Asia.

“The report was undertaken on behalf of the Regional Plan of Action, an eleven-country membership that signed an action plan in 2007 to address emerging regional issues such as rapid fisheries development and overfishing.

The report Net Returns: A Human Capacity Development Framework for Marine Capture Fisheries Management in South East Asia can be found at www.daff.gov.au/netreturns.

FAO Vacancy - Fishery and Aquaculture Officer, Subregional Office for Central Asia, Ankara

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 05:06:17 +1400

FAO is advertizing a post for a Fishery and Aquaculture Officer based in its Subregional Office for Central Asia, Ankara, Turkey. The details can be found at: http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/VA/pdf/2556SEC_en.pdf

Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission members stress need to prepare for climate change impacts

Fri, 27 May 2011 03:00:00 +1400

Kathmandu, 27 May 2011 - “Climate change may cause unprecedented disruptions to aquatic and coastal systems upon which many millions of Asian people depend. It is vital that governments in the Asia-Pacific region understand the risks, identify vulnerable systems and develop adaptive strategies”, FAO’s Simon Funge-Smith said today at the end of a meeting convened by the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) with 48 representatives from government fisheries and climate change agencies, and international and non-governmental organizations.

Increased policy attention and financial resources for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the fisheries/aquaculture sector are urgently needed; and the marine fishery and aquaculture sectors need to be closely integrated into national climate change policies.

“It is vital that the interactions between capture fisheries and aquaculture with other sectors such as agriculture and disaster management are integrated into the policy planning processes,” Funge-Smith added.

Recommendations of the workshop

Latest results of Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme

Tue, 10 May 2011 09:40:00 +1400

The Spanish-funded and FAO Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme for South and Southeast Asia (RFLP) has issued its first e-newsletter of 2011.
This contains short notes on the work of the programmee and how it is working in coastal areas to create change.

The e-publication seeks to create awareness of the RFLP’s activities while sharing resources, knowledge and experiences amongst the six countries participating in RFLP (Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste and Viet Nam) as well as with a wider audience. Wherever possible links are also provided to the RFLP website www.rflp.org RFLP undertakes activities in five main areas namely: Co-management, safety at sea and the reduction of vulnerability, post harvest, livelihoods and access to microfinance.