Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) – Several countries endorsed a set of wide-reaching guidelines that will boost the already vital role of small-scale fishers in contributing to global food security, nutrition and poverty eradication, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.
The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication are designed to support the world’s millions of small-scale fishers, particularly in developing countries.
It does so by promoting their human rights and safeguarding the sustainable use of the fishery resources they depend upon for their livelihoods, the UN agency said at the end of a meeting in Rome, Italy, where it is based.
Small-scale fisheries account for more than 90 percent of the world’s capture fishers and fish workers – about half of whom are women – and supply around 50 percent of all global fish catches.
They provide a valuable source of animal protein for billions of people worldwide and often underpin local economies in coastal and lake- and river-side communities.
But despite their importance, many small-scale fishing communities continue to be marginalised.
In a related development, countries took a major step forward in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing Wednesday.
To set the ball rolling, the countries endorsed a set of international guidelines that will hold states more accountable for the activities of fishing vessels flying their flags.
The FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Flag State Performance spell out a range of actions that countries can take to ensure that vessels registered under their flags do not conduct IUU fishing, one of the greatest threats to sustainable fisheries and related livelihoods.
Although the guidelines are voluntary, their endorsement by members of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), which met in Rome, is a public signal by countries of their intent to adhere to a shared set of standards for flag state performance.
Worked out over several years of negotiations, the guidelines now enjoy broad levels of international buy-in and support.
Precise numbers are hard to come by, but it is believed that IUU fishing has escalated over the past 20 years, especially in the high seas, and is now estimated to amount to 11-26 million tonnes of fish harvested illicitly each year, worth between US$10 and US$23 billion.
The Voluntary Guidelines aim to crack down on IUU, among other things, by promoting greater cooperation and information exchange between countries.
This enables flag states to refuse to register vessels that have previously been reported for IUU fishing, or that are already registered with another flag state.
The guidelines also provide recommendations on how countries could encourage compliance and take action against non-compliance by vessels, as well as on how to enhance international cooperation to assist developing countries to fulfill their flag state responsibilities.
