Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Spotlight for 2022
Recognizing the importance of the small-scale fisheries and aquaculture sectoras a sustainable source of healthy and nutritious food, the United Nations General Assembly has declared 2022 as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA),with FAO appointed as the lead agency. The occasion, will be marked by celebrations around the world, and FAO has scheduled a rich programme of events to promote the importance of fisheries and aquaculture, and to address some of the challenges that it faces.
A key event in 2022 will be publication of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division’s flagship report, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA). Produced every two years to provide policy-makers, academics, civil society and those whose livelihoods depend on the sector with a comprehensive, objective, and global view of capture fisheries and aquaculture, the official launch will be held in mid-2022.
The 2020 edition’s theme was ‘Sustainability in action’, and you can read that report here.
With a mission to promote the long-term sustainable development, utilization, conservation, restoration and responsible management of European inland fisheries and aquaculture, consistent with the objectives and principles of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the European Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Advisory Commission (EIFAAC) will be holding its 31st Session in Killarney, Ireland, from 22 to 24 June. This pan-European network of government institutions, established in 1957 as a statutory body of FAO, currently has 33 member countries, as well as the European Union.
The 35th Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) will be held in Rome from 5 to 9 September 2022. COFI is the United Nations intergovernmental forum for fisheries and aquaculture, where global challenges are discussed, and solutions identified. At the 34th Session in February 2021, FAO Members endorsed the COFI Declaration for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, which outlines a vision of how aquatic natural resources can be used more sustainably and effectively, to attain global food security and nutrition. The FAO COFI Sub-Committee on Fish Trade has scheduled its 18th Session, to be held virtually in June 2022. The virtual session will be proceeded by a Written Correspondence Procedure in April.
Also committed to the sustainable use of living marine resources and the sustainable development of aquaculture – specifically in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea – the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterraneanwill be holding its 45th Session from 14 to 18 November, in Albania.With 22 Member countries and the EU, this regional fisheries management organization was established in 1949 as a statutory body of FAO.
Other noteworthy international fisheries events in 2022 include the following, noting that dates and modalities may change due to the COVID-19 pandemic:
The One Ocean Summit– France, which holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU from January to June 2022, will host this gathering of heads of state and international leaders from 9 to 11 February in Brest. Topics on the agenda will include the greening of ports and maritime freight, and efforts to combat plastic pollution and sea-level rise.
The World Ocean Summit–The 9th annual summit on Achieving 2030 Targets will be held virtually from 1 to 4 March. The Summit will bring together representatives from the ocean community, businesses, scientists, government, investors and civil society to discuss six themes: shipping, fishing, aquaculture, energy, tourism, and plastics.
The UN Oceans Forum — The 4th UN Oceans Forum,organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, will explore trade-related aspects of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life below water). Taking the theme: Transitioning to a sustainable ocean economy to facilitate post-COVID-19 recovery and foster resilience, the meeting will be a hybrid event held in Geneva, Switzerland from 6 to 8 April.
The Our Ocean Conference – The 7th edition of this Conference will be held in Palau from 13 to 14 April, jointly hosted by the Republic of Palau and the United States of America. It will focus on six areas of action: advancing marine protected areas for communities, ecosystems, and climate; tackling marine pollution; confronting the ocean-climate crisis or towards an ocean solution for climate change; creating sustainable blue economies; advancing sustainable small-scale fisheries and aquaculture; and achieving a safe just and secure ocean.
The 2nd United Nations Ocean Conference 2022– will be held in Lisbon from 27 June to 1 July, seeking to propel science-based innovative solutions for global oceans, this event will be co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Portugal. In common with the UN Oceans Forum, the overarching theme will be SDG 14, in this case: Scaling up ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: Stocktaking, partnerships and solutions.
As always, UN World Fisheries Day(WFiD)will be celebrated on 21 November. In 2021, the FAO Liaison Office in Brussels organized a WFiD virtual panel discussion focusing on fish value chains, with participation by the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, EUROFISH International Organization, and Members of the European Parliament and the Organization for African and Caribbean States. A similar event will be organized to mark WFiD 2022.