January 31, 2022 — A campaign to develop, publicize, and enforce guidelines setting standards for the responsible management of transferring catch between vessels at sea is gaining momentum.
The Food and Agriculture Organization is leading an effort to close loopholes allowing for transshipment of catch on the high seas, a practice the United Nations organization said encourages illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
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February 16, 2021 — Fisheries and aquaculture sectors globally have been hit hard by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and could face further disruption in this year as lockdowns affect supply and demand, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The information paper, “The impact of COVID-19 on fisheries and aquaculture food systems” – which was featured at the 34th session of the FAO’s Committee on Fisheries (COFI) earlier this month – reports fish supply, consumption, and trade revenues are all expected to have declined in 2020 due to containment restrictions, while global aquaculture production is expected to fall by some 1.3 percent; the first drop recorded by the sector in several years.
February 10, 2021 — At this month’s meeting of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Committee on Fisheries (COFI), members were urged by sustainability-focused nonprofits to develop global transshipment guidelines, targeting adoption as early as 2022.
The Pew Charitable Trusts Senior Officer for International Fisheries Dawn Borg Constanzi told SeafoodSource she is hopeful the meeting will lead to the development of transshipment guidelines, which will include effective monitoring measures, universal authorization requirements, and information-sharing procedures.
February 9, 2021 — The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations’ Committee on Fisheries (COFI) met this month for its 34th session, covering topics relating to the state of the world’s sustainable fisheries and aquaculture operations.
A subsidiary body of the FAO, COFI is the only inter-governmental forum where FAO members convene to review and consider the global issues and challenges related to fisheries and aquaculture, according to the body’s website. The collective provides periodic global recommendations and policy advice, such as its Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.