FAO

Negotiating group sends text to Committee on World Food Security for final approval.
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.

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Meeting documents

Meeting location: Marine Institute Headquarters Rinville, Oranmore, Co. Galway, Ireland Local meeting contact: Ms. Anne Wilkinson anne.wilkinson@marine.ie Tel: +353-91-387200 Fax: +353-91-387201 and Dr. Fintan Bracken fintan.bracken@marine.ie Tel: +353-91-387200 Fax: +353-91-387201 ASFA Website

The FAO Yearbook of Fishery and Aquaculture Statistics is a compilation of data on capture production, aquaculture production and commodities. The complete yearbook package for each of these categories - all the key information and statistical tables - is contained on one CD-ROM . An accompanying booklet includes general notes, concepts and classifications, and summary tables as well as a pull-out map of FAO major fishing areas. This issue also includes statistics on apparent fish consumption derived from FAO food balance sheets and notes on the major trends and issues relating to the individual statistical sets.

This document presents case studies of the policy, governance and institutional issues of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Brazil, India, Palau and Senegal. It is the first of four in a global series of case studies on MPAs. An initial volume provides a synthesis and analysis of all the studies. The set of global MPA case studies was designed to close a deficit in information on the governance of MPAs and spatial management tools, within both fisheries management and biodiversity conservation contexts. The studies examine governance opportunities in and constraints on the use of spatial management measures at the national level. They were also designed to inform implementation of the FAO Technical Guidelines on marine protected areas (MPAs) and fisheries, which were developed to provide information and guidance on the use of MPAs in the context of fisheries.

African coastal nations will attend the North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF) business arena for the first time. The FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department is partnering with the NASF during its 7th conference to be held in Oslo 6-8 March 2012. Invited by FAO, a delegation of around 30 African officials and seafood industry leaders, headed by Ministers from Ghana, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique and Namibia, and top Ministry officials from Angola and South Africa, will attend. FAO will present two major themes: African export opportunities and market access into Europe; and inward investments and financing of the fisheries and aquaculture industries in Africa. Full programme of NASF Conference

Report

New Global Partnership to Bring Powerful Forces Together for Healthy Oceans A powerful coalition of governments, international organizations, civil society groups and private interests are joining together under the banner of a Global Partnership for Oceans to to advance mutually agreed goals for healthy and productive oceans. Underscoring the importance of oceans to the world’s developing economies, the partnership, announced in a keynote speech at The Economist’s World Oceans Summit by World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick, would bring science, advocacy, the private sector, and international public institutions together and build on the excellent work already being done. See World Bank news

Comment développer l’aquaculture en République de Djibouti ? C’est autour de ce thème qu’une importante réunion a été tenue mercredi dernier au ministère de l’Agriculture. Et ce, quelques jours seulement après la mise en mer de trois premières cages d’élevage de poissons avec l’expertise de la FAO et de la communauté de pécheurs de Loyada. Lisez l'article du 'Journal La Nation'

The Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC), a body of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), convened in Panama City for its 14th biennial session from 6-9 February 2012, has adopted a resolution that will mark significant progress toward sustainable fisheries management in the region. The Resolution on Strengthening the Implementation of International Fisheries Instruments calls upon WECAFC members to become party to legally binding international fisheries instruments where this has not yet been done. It also urges the members to take action and measures to strengthen implementation of existing international fisheries instruments, including those that are legally binding and Guidelines that are widely adopted at national and regional levels on a voluntary basis. The Resolution was triggered by deep concern about the declining fish catches in the Caribbean region, the increased percentage of overexploited and depleted reef fish stocks, the fact that the situation seems critical for some highly migratory, straddling and other fishery resources that are exploited solely or partially in the high seas, and the overall reduction of 30 percent during the past decade in capture fisheries in Western Central Atlantic region (FAO Area 31). The international fisheries instruments have been carefully negotiated by the international community in response to the recognized need to cooperate to address issues of deep concern to ensure the sustainability of the fisheries resources, including: the FAO Compliance agreement (1993), the UN Fish Stocks Agreement (1995), the FAO Port States Measures Agreement (2009), the FAO Technical Guidelines on the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (2003), the FAO International Guidelines for the Management of Deep-sea Fisheries in the High Seas (2008) and the FAO International Guidelines on Bycatch Management and Reduction of Discards (2010). The Commission also agreed to establish a WECAFC Working Group on the management of deep-sea fisheries. The Working Group will inform the management of such fisheries by WECAFC members with the objective of promoting responsible fisheries that provide economic opportunities while ensuring the conservation of marine living resources and the protection of marine biodiversity. The Commission is comprised of thirty-two countries and the European Union. The members’ commitment to responsible fisheries is high and it was widely agreed that enduring positive results can only be achieved through continuing the general spirit of cooperation and constructiveness that animated the debate at the 14th session. The 14th session was kindly hosted by the Aquatic Resources Authority of Panama on behalf of the Government of Panama.

World Future Council partners with CBD, GEF and FAO to present awards in Hyderabad, India Hamburg/Montreal/Washington D.C., Rome Over 70 per cent of the earth is covered in oceans and major seas. Their health is a prerequisite for the survival of humanity. Yet, they are degrading fast. In order to address this pressing issue the World Future Council (WFC) announced today that it will present its Future Policy Award 2012 to the world’s most inspiring, innovative and influential policies on the protection of oceans and coasts. The prestigious Future Policy Award is the first and only award that celebrates policies rather than people at the international level. When announcing the topic of oceans and coasts, Alexandra Wandel, Director of the World Future Council, said: "With the Future Policy Award we want to cast a spotlight on policies that lead by example. The aim of the World Future Council is to raise global awareness of visionary policies and speed up policy action in the interests of present and future generations." This year's award ceremony will take place in Hyderabad, India in October 2012. It will be hosted by the World Future Council in partnership with the UN Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and with the support of the Okeanos Foundation. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said: “Ocean ecosystems harbour an incredible diversity of life. Policy-makers have a critical role to play in preserving this biodiversity, as poor management of marine and coastal environments is the root cause of biodiversity loss and degradation of these vital ecosystems.” Monique Barbut, CEO of the Global Environment Facility, commented: “Developing countries are now becoming much more active in restoring and protecting their coastal oceans. With a portfolio of over 100 countries using GEF grants to improve the condition of oceans and coasts, we are delighted to partner with the World Future Council in its endeavour to identify, award, and promote adoption of these critical policies.“ Árni Mathiesen, Assistant Director-General of FAO's Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, said: “Humanity depends on the sustainable management of the marine environment to realise the Human Right to Food. Over a billion people rely on oceans as a source of protein and over half a billion people are dependent on oceans and coasts for their livelihoods. This is why it is so important to promote policies that successfully address the multiple threats to oceans and the coastal communities that depend on them for their livelihoods.” Nominations for the Future Policy Award are received from a select group of international organisations as well as from Councillors and advisors of the World Future Council. A research team screens all nominated policies according to the seven principles for sustainable development law that were presented at the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development. As a result, an evaluation report is presented to the international jury composed of experts from all five continents. The winning policies will be announced at the United Nations Headquarters in September 2012. The award ceremony on October 16 will be part of the11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP-11) in Hyderabad.

This 15-minute video presents film clips and photos taken in various countries depicting the range of people, species, environments, systems, practices as well as opportunities and challenges facing aquaculture. Viewers take a historical journey to the major turning points in aquaculture development since the early and first aquaculture practice by a Chinese named Fan Li two millennia ago. These four watersheds span 25 years from the Kyoto Strategy on Aquaculture Development (1976), to the establishment of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (1995) through to The Bangkok Declaration and Strategy for Aquaculture (2000) and immediately followed by the creation of the Committee on Fisheries Sub-Committee on Aquaculture (2001) - enough to nourish its development through the next 25 so that aquaculture, now the fastest growing food producing sector can serve the people better, and communities and nations continue to prosper. This video was produced by the Aquaculture Service of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department for the Global Conference on Aquaculture 2010 and the Fifth session of the COFI Sub-Committtee on Aquaculture held in Phuket, Thailand in October 2010.

This document is a synthesis of Les aires marines protégées d’Afrique de l’Ouest. Gouvernance et politiques publiques (Weigel et. al, 2007) which proposes an analytical framework to study the governance of MPAs in the LDCs, drawing on four sources of inspiration: (i) the interactive fisheries governance approach; (ii) the risk governance approach; (iii) the socioanthropology of mediations and brokerage; and (iv) the governance analytical framework. The framework indicates the five issues that must be addressed in order to operationalize the concept of governance in LDC MPAs: (i) definition of the problem or the issue at stake; (ii) identification of the set of relevant governance norms; (iii) presentation of the actors involved in the governance process; (iv) highlighting the nodes around which actors’ strategies converge; and (v) recalling the processes that have led to the current state of governance. This analytical framework makes it possible to characterize the governance system of each of the MPAs considered and to develop a typology of these systems. The characterization of different governance systems highlights their weaknesses and paves the way for new public policy options and, more generally, for the restructuring of governance to correct these weaknesses. In order to develop an analytical framework and the characterization of governance systems the main MPA governance principles and constraints, as well their legal context, were clarified. This was done by testing the proposed methodology in three West African coastal and marine protected areas, which illustrated the difficulties of governance in LDCs: the Banc d’Arguin National Park in Mauritania, the Saloum Delta Biosphere Reserve in Senegal, and the Bolama Bijagos Archipelago Biosphere Reserve in Guinea-Bissau. The analysis of demographic and economic constraints in these West African MPAs showed the importance of: (i) increasing population density and mobility; (ii) the intensification of resource exploitation; and (iii) and the opening of the MPA economy. The analysis of the legal and institutional contexts showed the international inspiration of the MPA objectives and conservation arrangements, and the syncretism of the legal system.

Lampreys are aquatic, jawless vertebrates widely found in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, but virtually absent in the intervening tropical zone. Lampreys undergo a radical metamorphosis from the larval to the adult form. The adults vary considerably: some are parasitic and anadromous, others parasitic but restricted to fresh water, while still others are nonparasitic (non–feeding) and restricted to fresh water. A new issue of the FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes presents an annotated and illustrated catalogue of lamprey species known to date. It explains and illustrates the taxonomic characters used to describe ammocoetes and adults; presents a key to adults and a partial key to larvae and provides an account for each of the 39 species with information on the taxonomy including synonyms, common names, diagnostic features of ammocoetes and adults (with drawings of the adult body and oral disc), habitat and biology, geographic distribution (with map), interest to fisheries and references.

Sustainable fishing, shipping and tourism among sectors that could create jobs and growth. Healthy seas and coasts would pay healthy dividends in a green economy, according to a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Maritime Organization (IMO), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), WorldFish Center and GRID-Arendal, that highlights the huge potential for economic growth and poverty eradication from well-managed marine sectors. The report, Green Economy in a Blue World , argues that the ecological health and economic productivity of marine and coastal ecosystems, which are currently in decline around the globe, can be boosted by shifting to a more sustainable economic approach that taps their natural potential - from generating renewable energy and promoting eco-tourism, to sustainable fisheries and transport.

A recently published FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, Demand and supply of feed ingredients for farmed fish and crustaceans: trends and prospects, looks at the dietary feeding practices used for producing the major cultured-fed species, and the total global production and market availability of the major feed ingredient sources used including their future demand, in view of aquaculture’s current 8-10% average growth. The paper recommends approaches to nutritionally sound and safe feed ingredient selection and usage for the major species of cultivated fish and crustaceans in order to keep pace with the growth of the fed finfish and crustacean aquaculture sector.

The FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department has just published FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries. on the management of marine protected area and fisheriesThe document has been developed to provide information and guidance on the use of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the context of fisheries, looking specifically at fisheries features of MPAs as well as addressing the interface between fisheries management and biodiversity conservation and provide support for MPAs with multiple objectives. The Guidelines, divided into two sections to provide both background information and planning considerations, highlights the need for increased coordination across sectors and agencies/departments. Integration of diverse interests and viewpoints is required if we are to successfully manage our oceans and their resources for future generations. As with all fisheries management, good governance – including adequate stakeholder participation – is key to successful and equitable management outcomes.

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