FAO Committee on Fisheries adopts Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture

The 36th session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI36) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), held at headquarters in Rome from July 8 to 12, has adopted the Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture.

The Committee on Fisheries is the world's largest gathering of policymakers, experts, and partners in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. It is the only global intergovernmental forum where FAO Members meet to discuss and consider issues and challenges related to fisheries and aquaculture. It is unique in providing regular global policy advice and recommendations to governments, regional fishery bodies, civil society organizations, private sector actors, and the international community.

The Guidelines are a set of shared and agreed-upon principles and practices that all countries can use to transform their aquaculture activities. They present a comprehensive and adaptable framework designed to address the challenges posed by the aquaculture sector's rapid growth and support its sustainable expansion and intensification.

Aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing food sectors and remains essential in a world where 735 million people go to bed hungry every day, and more than three billion people cannot afford a healthy diet. 

According to the latest edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report, in 2022, aquaculture overtook capture fisheries as the leading producer of aquatic animals for the first time. Latin America and the Caribbean recorded 4.3 million tons of aquaculture production, which translates into about 3.3% of the world total. 

This makes the region the second largest aquaculture producer, behind Asia (91.4% of the world total). Chile and Ecuador account for 53% of the total aquaculture production of aquatic animals in Latin America and the Caribbean, and both are among the top ten countries in the world.

"Adopting these guidelines is essential to ensure sustainable development that benefits both present and future generations," explained José Aguilar-Manjarrez, FAO Aquaculture Officer.

The guidelines are part of FAO's programmatic work implementing the Blue Transformation roadmap.

"The Guidelines were drafted through an inclusive consultation process at the request of FAO Members, who wanted a shared understanding and clear direction for developing sustainable aquaculture in their countries, in line with Article 9 of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," says Matthias Halwart, FAO Senior Aquaculture Officer. 

"In practice, this could mean enacting new legislation to promote restorative aquaculture in degraded habitat, providing incentives for the industry to decarbonize its production cycle, or launching a government program to connect rural women and youth to aquaculture farms" explains KwangSuk Oh, Senior Fisheries Officer at FAO. 

"This includes seeds and feeds, climate change adaptation, interactions with aquatic biodiversity and waste management, with aquaculture farms designed around the concept of circularity," explains FAO Senior Fisheries Officer Graham Mair.