Page 25 - Vol.38-No.6

FISHERIES & FISH FARMING

AQUACULTURE IS ALSO CRUCIAL IN

HELPING FEED THE WORLD

The world is seeing some positive trends Agreement; the 1995 Code of Conduct for said. This year’s International Year of Ar-
on fishery-related targets under the Sus- Responsible Fisheries; and the 2009 FAO tisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture, offers a
tainable Development Goals, but there’s Port State Measures Agreement. big opportunity to further advance Target
still a long way to go in tapping the sector’s FAO continues to support Members in 14.b, he added.
potential to help feed the world, especially implementing these global and regional Achieving SDG14 needs
by making better use of aquaculture. instruments, working together with civil
That was the message from QU Dongyu, society, the private sector, academia and partnerships
Director-General of the Food and Agricul- the UN wide system, Qu said. He also con- Qu said SDG14 - the least-funded of all
ture Organization of the United Nations gratulated the World Trade Organisation for the SDGs - can only be achieved through
(FAO) as he addressed an Interactive Dia- an “unprecedented agreement reached on strategic and innovative partnerships, com-
logue on “Making Fisheries Sustainable and fisheries subsidies.” mitments and financing.
providing access for small-scale artisanal Target 14.7 aims to increase the contri- Moreover, to feed the world with aquat-
fishers to marine resources and markets” bution of fisheries to GDP, particularly in ic foods must also involve aquaculture, or
at the UN Ocean Conference here today. Small Island Developing States and Least the farming of fish and aquatic animals and
“Our oceans, rivers and lakes can help Developed Countries. Meeting Target 14.7 plants, which is not directly reflected in
feed the world, but only if we use their calls for upgrading and enhancing exist- SDG14. Beyond food, aquaculture offers
valuable resources responsibly, sustainably ing value aquatic food chains, and initial new opportunities and markets to support
and equitably,” Qu said in a keynote address analyses indicate this target is trending millions of livelihoods, including women,
at the event. positively, Qu said. youth and indigenous communities, he said.
The FAO Director-General underlined the Finally, Target 14.b, is a call to provide To address today’s challenges, the FAO
vital importance of achieving SDG14 on access for small-scale artisanal fishers to Strategic Framework 2022-31 supports
Life Below Water. FAO, as the main global marine resources and markets. This is the the urgent transformation of global agrifood
forum for fisheries and aquaculture issues, is most crucial of all in relation to sustainable systems, including aquatic food systems,
the custodian of indicators for four SDG14 livelihoods, Qu said, adding that the target for better production, better nutrition, a
Targets, and co-custodian for another three. is also trending positively. better environment and a better life for all,
Qu went on to analyze some of the pro- More and more national frameworks rec- leaving no one behind, Qu noted.
gress made so far on these targets, citing ognize and protect rights for small-scale • To deliver on this vision, FAO promotes
data from FAO’s flagship 2022 report State fishers, who account for 90percent of the Blue Transformation, with 3 core ob-
of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA), sector’s workforce, and produce 40 percent jectives:
which was launched earlier in the day. of the world’s catch. • Sustainable aquaculture intensification
Target 14.4 calls for the restoration “Building the resilience of small-scale and expansion;
of fish stocks so that they may produce fishers and supporting their inclusion in • Effective management of all fisheries;
maximum sustainable yield by 2020. The decision-making processes are key to en- Upgraded value chains that ensure the
indicator for this target is the proportion suring long-term sustainable fisheries and social, economic and environmental viability
of fish stocks within biologically sustain- healthy oceans,” the FAO Director-General of aquatic food systems.
able levels.
The FAO Director-General noted that this
target was not achieved, with the fraction
of stocks fished at sustainable levels de-
clining by 1.2 percent from 2017 to 2019.
However, if weighted by volume, 82.5 per-
cent of marine fisheries landings are from
biologically sustainable stocks - an almost
4 percent rise since the last assessment.
This shows that effectively managed fish-
eries stocks are rebuilding, Qu said, adding:
“In order to meet Target 14.4, effective
management is the best conservation.”
On Target 14.6, which seeks to eliminate
subsidies that contribute to overfishing
and Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported
fisheries, Qu said that some progress was
being made with the help of globally bind-
ing tools such as the 1995 UN Fish Stock
Circle 29 on enquiry card Vol. 38 No. 6 23