Saving Seafood

DAVID GOETHEL: Food sovereignty to include New England fisheries

October 31, 2019 — According to a study released in 2012 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, between 3.9 and 4.5 billion people get all or most of their protein sustenance from wild caught seafood. The Commerce Department reports that, despite having one of the largest exclusive fishing zones in the world, the United States imports more than 90% of its seafood.

These two facts should concern the American public and our presidential candidates, yet fishery policy is seldom if ever mentioned on the campaign trail. Every candidate has an agricultural policy, just look at the traffic jam of candidates at Iowa state fairs. Fishermen and farmers contribute over $230 million to the state’s economy annually. However, ask a candidate about the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management Act and you will likely get a blank stare.

All candidates have national security policies and food security is inextricably linked to national security. A country that is self-sufficient in fishing and farming is also secure. Long supply chains, often involving countries that do not necessarily have the United States best interests at heart, is inherently risky. So why has this issue not been addressed in the most recent iteration of Magnuson?

Read the full story at Sea Coast Online

FAO creating guidelines to combat human rights violations in fishing

October 17, 2019 — New international guidelines are being developed to confront substandard working conditions in the seafood industry by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

The FAO is creating the guidelines in response to increased scrutiny on labor violations and human rights abuses in the seafood industry. The guidelines, which were presented at the Conxemar International Congress on Social Sustainability on 30 September, will set an internationally accepted standard for companies and countries seeking to improve practices, clearly articulating core principles of social responsibility.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alaska’s Responsible Fisheries Management certification program may go it alone

October 11, 2019 — The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s board of directors is being asked to consider a range of new topics coming out of the organization’s annual committee meetings, which took place 9 to 10 October.

One of the biggest changes in the organization is the Responsible Fisheries Management program shifting away from the ASMI umbrella and into its own nonprofit foundation in 2020-2021.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alaskan gives United Nations indigenous perspective on threats to Arctic fisheries

October 1, 2019 — For the first time, a branch of the United Nations is asking indigenous peoples to share their traditional knowledge about the evolution of Arctic fisheries. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) held a seminar on the topic in Rome last week.

“For Inuit it is not only fishing,” said Dalee Sambo Dorough, Ph.D., a former political science professor at UAA and chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC). “One of my main efforts was to broaden the discussion about food security, and the dialogue within the FAO about Arctic indigenous food security, and the importance of hunting as well as fishing and other harvesting activities.”

Dorough was one of dozens of representatives present at the meeting in Italy. One of the outcomes was a declaration that calls upon member states of the FAO to take further action to protect fisheries in the Arctic. The document is still pending final publication, following a public comment period this weekend.

Read the full story at KTVA

FAO paper predicts impact of climate change on world’s fisheries, aquaculture

August 20, 2019 — Climate change will decrease the world fisheries’ overall maximum catch potential between 2.8% and 12.1% by 2050 based on different greenhouse gas emission scenarios, with the tropics, especially the South Pacific region, getting hit the hardest, says a team of technical experts organized by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

It’s not just the oceans either. As water becomes more scarce, inland fisheries will be undervalued. Pakistan, Iraq, Morocco and Spain are all highlighted as countries that are currently facing high stresses that are projected to become even higher in the future.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Ocean-wide biomass declines projected due to climate change

August 13, 2019 — Climate change will cause fish biomass to decline 5 percent for every one degree Celsius of warming, according to the most comprehensive analysis of marine ecosystem models to date.

The study, which was authored by 35 researchers from 12 countries, combines multiple climate and ecosystem models to create an ensemble model that estimates future global marine biomass — the total weight of all the fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals in the ocean.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

FAO expects uncertainty to restrain 2019 global seafood trade, despite strong demand

July 25, 2019 — In its annual outlook for the world’s seafood market, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) predicted a “flat or marginal growth” in seafood supply over 2019, with global seafood demand continuing to grow.

The forecast, created by the team of seafood analysts in the FAO’s Globefish unit, predicts that total global wild catch will drop by approximately 3.4% in 2019, as catches of cod, mackerel and octopus remain low, while the world’s tuna fisheries have also been less productive than they were during the first half of 2018.

Meanwhile, global aquaculture production is set to increase by 4%, although supply is likely to remain tight for major species such as salmon, according to Globefish.

The team has estimated that 177.8 million metric tons of fish will be produced worldwide in 2019, of which roughly 89% will go towards direct human consumption. This, in turn, means that global per capita seafood consumption is estimated at 20.5 kg.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

High Stakes for China as WTO Fishing Subsidies Cap Looms

July 8, 2019 — As the World Trade Organisation confronts a deadline this year to reach an agreement to eliminate subsidies that are decimating global fish populations, perhaps no nation faces higher stakes than China.

China operates the planet’s largest fishing fleet, catches the most seafood and hands out the most money in fuel subsidies and other support that enables industrial trawlers to travel to the furthest reaches of the ocean. As a result of the expansion of global fishing fleets to meet rising demand, 33% of fish populations are being harvested at biologically unsustainable levels while 90% are fully exploited, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Researchers in 2016 pegged total annual fishing subsidies at US$35 billion (in 2009 dollars). They categorised US$20 billion of those incentives as harmful with as much as 85% of that money going to industrial fishing operations. A 2018 study found that in the absence of US$4.2 billion in subsidies, more than half of high seas fishing would be unprofitable. Furthermore, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Spain account for 80% of fishing outside territorial waters. Researchers estimate that China alone was responsible for 21% of high seas fishing in 2014 and nearly 19% of global fish catch averaged between 2014 and 2016.

In 2001, the WTO formally recognised the need to reform fishing subsidies and member nations four years later called for the abolition of incentives that contribute to overfishing. Negotiations languished for a decade but took on new urgency in 2015 after the UN adopted a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Among them was SDG 14.6, which calls for the prohibition by 2020 of subsidies that contribute to overcapacity, overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Still, WTO’s last biennial meeting in December 2017 ended without an agreement on fishing subsidies. However, the 164 WTO member states, which must approve decisions by consensus, did agree to redouble efforts to reach an agreement by the end of 2019.

This year, negotiators have been meeting monthly at WTO headquarters in Geneva to try to break the stalemate. An agreement to ban fishing subsidies would have a profound impact on ocean health and national economies. Unlike other international agreements, such as the Paris accord on climate change, WTO actions are binding and carry the weight of law.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

New FAO boss was key China emissary on fisheries deals

June 28, 2019 — The new head of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has played a central role in expanding China’s global seafood reach and will now get to shape key global policies on agriculture, aquaculture, and fisheries.

China Vice Minister for Agriculture Qu Dongyu won the support of a majority of FAO nation-states, defeating France’s Catherine Geslain-Laneelle 107-71 in an election during the 41st session of the FAO Conference, which took place 22 to 29 June.  Qu becomes the ninth director-general of the Rome, Italy-based organization.

Qu will replace Brazilian Jose Graziano da Silva, who reportedly lobbied Latin American nations for Qu. Qu’s election is a clear indication of China’s power as a purchaser and investor in agriculture and fisheries commodities globally. According to French news reports, China used its role as a key customer of Latin American commodities such as soy, seafood, and meat to deliver votes for Qu.

The new FAO director has become familiar with many of the world’s agriculture and fisheries ministers during his many trips around the world as a Chinese minister. As China’s vice minister for agriculture, Qu represented China in World Trade Organization talks on fishery subsidies (which were held up in part over objections from India and China over the scale and timing of subsidy cuts by developing nations).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

FAO launches anti-IUU campaign on Chinese social media

June 10, 2019 — The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is reaching out directly to the Chinese public in a bid to turn opinion against illegal fishing.

The FAO recently launched a social media campaign on Chinese social media in Mandarin, aimed at popular platforms including microblogging site Weibo. The campaign calls for locals to “fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing” and also calls for the protection of fisheries to guarantee food security around the world.

The campaign is a new effort to inform the Chinese public of the impact of illegal fishing on the high seas – some of it conducted by Chinese vessels. The FAO’s campaign is an interesting contrast with state media, which tends to portray the development of China’s distant-water fleet as a strategic national priority.

Read the full story at Seafood Source