NEW YORK, N.Y. (IBNS) — June 10, 2014 — The United Nations agricultural agency announced on Monday that it is partnering with Norway to build an advanced research vessel as part of efforts to avert the effects of climate change and other threats to the world's fish stocks, as calls were heard for urgent action to address those threats at an international forum in Rome.
The new USD 80 million research vessel Dr Fridtjof Nansen will host seven laboratories to collect data on marine ecosystems, climate change and pollution to help countries develop sustainable fisheries management, according to a press release by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
At the same time, FAO’s Director-General opened the Committee on Fisheries in Rome by stressing the importance of fisheries to the world’s food security and nutrition and sounding an alarm on the threats those resources face.
Fisheries and aquaculture make a “central contribution to food security and nutrition,” Jose Graziano da Silva said, adding that that sustainable development in the world's island and coastal states was especially dependent on the “vitality of oceans and fish stocks.”