M. Ivor Clucas, expert des pêches du Natural Resources Institute (Royaume-Uni), a accepté deux engagements de 12 mois à la FAO dans le cadre du Programme d'experts invités des établissements universitaires et instituts de recherche. Pendant la durée de ses engagements auprès du Service de la commercialisation et de l'utilisation du poisson, il a rédigé les principes directeurs de l'Article 11.1 (Utilisation responsable du poisson) du Code de conduite.
Des principes directeurs sont élaborés pour chaque article du Code, afin d'aider les États à sa mise en application. Les utilisateurs de première ligne du Code sont les fonctionnaires, les agents de vulgarisation et le secteur privé, y compris les représentants des organisations non gouvernementales (ONG).
Ivor Clucas, experto superior en pesca, perteneciente al Instituto de Recursos Naturales del Reino Unido, llevó a cabo dos misiones de 12 meses en la FAO dentro del ámbito del Programa de expertos visitantes de instituciones académicas y de investigación. Durante las misiones que desarrolló en el Servicio de Utilización y Mercadeo del Pescado, escribió directrices para el Artículo 11.1 (Utilización responsable de la pesca) del Código de Conducta.
Para cada artículo se prepararon directrices para ayudar a los gobiernos a aplicar el Código. Sus usuarios finales son funcionarios estatales, agentes de extensión y del sector privado, incluidos representantes de organizaciones no gubernamentales.
Ivor Clucas, a senior fisheries expert at the United Kingdom's Natural Resources Institute, undertook two 12-month assignments at FAO under the Visiting Experts from Academic and Research Institutions Programme. During his assignments with the
Fisheries expert Ivor Clucas |
Every year, substantial quantities of fish, marine mammals, sea birds, sea turtles and other sea life are incidentally killed and discarded in fishing operations. In the fishing industry, the phenomenon is often called "by-catch" and, in some fisheries, can amount to as much as 75 percent of a haul. The consequences for the world's sustainable food supply of this wastage of fish are obviously grave.
Despite a general recognition that discarding fish at sea may have detrimental biological effects, imperfect fishing technology as well as economic factors make by-catch hard to eliminate. Instead, the groundbreaking approach of FAO's Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries emphasizes utilizing discarded fish and maximizing its value as human food, to the extent that it is compatible with responsible fisheries management practices.
Guidelines are being prepared for every article of the code to assist governments in its implementation. End users are government officials, extension workers and the private sector, including non-governmental organization representatives.
Some of the highest rates of by-catch are associated with shrimp trawling. Yet, in Southeast Asia and other parts of the developing world, a large number of people supplement their meagre incomes by using small fish and by-catch from shrimp fisheries. They select the fish that can be used for sale for human consumption and dry the rest for use as animal feed or fertilizers.
Increased pressure on traditional fish stocks and the ever growing demand for fish products have had a positive overall impact on the amount of by-catch that is used. This is particularly marked in Southeast Asia, where there has been a trend towards the use of particular species selected from the catch for the production of value-added, specialized and sometimes innovative products such as fish balls, fish cakes, fish fingers and fish crackers. The extent to which discarded fish already forms a part of local industry determines how quickly by-catch utilization will increase. But research on and development of fish technology, access to market intelligence and exchange of information between different groups and regions are essential.
To this end, in September 1998, Clucas helped to organize an expert consultation on the utilization of by-catch. This consultation, organized and funded jointly by FAO, the United Kingdom Department for International Development and China's Bureau of Fisheries, brought together global expertise on the topic, to compare experiences and progress and formulate future action.