FAO International Symposium on Fisheries Sustainability: Strengthening the Science-Policy Nexus

FAO International Symposium on Fisheries Sustainability:
Strengthening the Science-Policy Nexus

Opening speech

18 November 2019

 

Excellencies, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon.

I am very pleased to start by welcoming you to the FAO International Symposium on Fisheries Sustainability. But before doing so, as this is the first major fisheries event I am attending as Director-General of FAO, I would like say a few words about a colleague we lost earlier this year in a plane crash.

Joanna Toole was on a mission to represent FAO in a United Nations environment assembly in Nairobi. Joanna was a firm believer in her work and a champion of animal welfare and conservation of wildlife. She reflected all the qualities that FAO takes pride in and I commend her dedication to our mission for global peace and security.

Mrs. Toole’s work leaves a legacy that her family can be truly proud of. Her friends and colleagues at FAO are determined to keep her legacy alive and are committed to continue the work she started. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her as a loved friend.

Today, I will address you some thoughts that I understand of fisheries sustainability. During my campaign to FAO DG, I said that my grandma taught me how to keep the mushroom sustainable. But more importantly, I grew up in the south parts of Hunan province where we have lots of lakes, rivers and ponds. Without fish, I couldn’t develop my brain so well. Fish really helped me as a child - it’s an essential food.

One can start with early breakfast and end with dinner. So three meals with fish. Small fish, shrimps, whatever. But it is fresh fish, not from the sea but from rivers, from ponds.

This building has witnessed many milestones in the history of fisheries management in the past. 

For example, the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the reference framework for national and international efforts to ensure sustainable fishing and the production of aquatic living resources in harmony with the environment, will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year.

18 years ago, the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management was discussed and approved.

10 years ago, the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing was approved in this very room.

So of course there are a lot of things to be improved, but a look back on those historic points and decisions is important to be fully aware on  we have done so far.

And today, FAO is convening the international community again, because fisheries are facing an important cross-road.
On the one hand, fisheries make a vital and growing contribution to food, nutrition and livelihood security. Fish provide each of us with 20.3 kilograms of top-quality protein and essential micronutrients every year. Fisheries also provide livelihood opportunities to over 10 percent of the world’s population.

On the other hand the world is deeply concerned over the state of the ocean, from plastic pollution, climate change impacts, habitat degradation and, of course, overfishing. One in every three fish stocks is overfished.

I delivered a speech in Oslo during the Our Ocean Conference 2019, , and I said we can gather a lot of solutions and a lot of recommendations. One thing in my mind, based on Chinese experience, is to develop aquaculture. Because Chinese consume fish 80% from aquaculture not from sea. Natural fish is not so easy now and do not grow as quickly as we consume. That is a challenge, you cannnot let a natural fish grow as fast as the population grow because fish are not as clever as you are. We are human beings, we are supposed to be the most intelligent animals in the world, on this planet. But we cannot control our population. So how do you ask fish to control their growth? So we had find our own alternative.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We need a new vision for fisheries in the 21st century.

A vision that addresses one simple question: What does society expect from capture fisheries in the twenty-first century?

And how do we protect and secure its benefits? 

You are all here to contribute to this new vision. And when I look at this full room, I think you all agree that this is needed! I believe you, you are experts, you are politicians. You have a responsibility to take care of our oceans. If we don’t do it, who can help you do it? Let’s do it together.

Over 800 million people go to bed hungry every day. And this number has been on the rise since 2015. This is an unacceptable tragedy. We must eradicate hunger, and its associated poverty.

In the middle of this century, there will be 9 to 10 billion people on this planet. And we all need to eat. All food, on land or water, needs to be harvested in ways that imply some transformation of the wild environment. How much transformation we are prepared to consider needs careful debate. That debate is at the heart of the concept of sustainable development.

Let me be clear: land alone will not feed us – we also need aquatic food production. Be careful, it is aquatic food, it is  not fish because always people talk about fish, they talk about big fish and they talk about only fish flesh. That’s European consumption pattern. That’s not a sustainable consumption pattern.

Look at Asia, people there eat fish, some are small because they grow slow so it’s better that they have a higher productivity. Some also eat a lot of sea products, from seaweed and others. And also they not only eat the fish flesh, they eat also the fish head, fish tail. That’s a really sustainable way of consumption. So I think we have to learn from each other.
FAO is deeply committed to the fight for sustainable oceans and freshwater systems, and in our work, we have noted a dangerous trend. Fisheries in developed regions are increasingly sustainable, rebuilding stocks and improving the conditions of those working in the sector. But fisheries in developing regions are not improving as fast. This is creating a dangerous sustainability divide.

We need to reverse this trend if we are to achieve the SDGs, not just SDG14. So we need a closer linkage with SDG14 and the big picture – SDG2 and SDG1.

FAO works with countries, especially in developing regions, to monitor and support fisheries sustainability. We support data collection systems with tools and training.

With Norway, for example, we have been implementing the Nansen programme, a long-term investment to monitor and assist in the management of fisheries with a focus on Africa.

We assist in countries’ policy developments, we help them add value to their value chains, we help them protect and recognize their small-scale fisheries, and we help them grow.

Last month, when I was in Norway, we also got strong support from the European Union with about 50 million euros to support the ACP - Africa, Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands. So I think that indicates a strong political willingness and also the responsibility to support the regions that need it.

We have multi-donor programmes to implement the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines around the world, protecting fisheries communities.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We spend a long time talking about ocean problems, but not enough time looking at the ocean as a solution. This is what I propose:

First, let us re-invest in marine and freshwater sustainability programmes.

Second, let us invest in sustainable ocean growth. The FAO Blue Growth Initiative, for example, is based on balancing ecological, social and economic principles. Developing industries like aquaculture as win-win solutions for a planet in need.
FAO runs Blue Growth projects valued at over USD 80 million dollars in more than 30 countries focusing largely on fishers and farmers participating in small to medium-sized enterprises along the value chain, as well on large industrial fisheries on the high seas.

Third, let us ensure that adequate protection measures are combined with effective management. We need more political will and more resources to make this happen.

But remember that we cannot make fisheries sustainable if people go hungry. That is a challenge in developing nations.  Their populations doubled, tripled during the past years. So we should offer innovation solutions via new technology and new varieties and new ways of fishing.

Let us commit to effective sustainability of 100 per cent of our resources from oceans, seas and rivers. 100 percent sustainability through whatever mechanisms are needed for conservation, for sustainable use, and for development.

We always say that the SDGs are designed to leave no-one behind.

Let us not leave any region of the ocean behind in our sustainability quest.

I want to finish with a positive message:

Marine and inland fisheries present a number of opportunities for humankind, for food, for jobs. They are often the glue that unites communities, and they can be a mechanism for peace, stability and happiness. This was absolutely clear in the debates we had during our ocean conference in Norway a few weeks ago. Fish is an essential element in the future of sustainable food systems. So this morning I had talks with the minister of Norway and also the Director-General of the WorldFish Centre. We have to change the food system to include fishermen. Look at staple food, other meat, other vegetables, and fruit. The majority are consumed by human beings. But fish? I don’t know the exact number, please help me after this conference. Globally, if you have one million tons of fish, whole fish, how much goes to your stomach in the end? I think it’s much less than rice, wheat, even less than tomato and apple but I don’t know the exact number. Every day I hear about food waste but it seems to me they consider food waste not to include fish. But please include fish. It’s one of the most potential areas we can improve. With that I need your help and suggestions. We know how to make them sustainable and we need them to be sustainable.

If we focus our science, our innovation spirit, our technologies, our policy - policy for production, policy for consumption, policy for environment and policy for your business, and value chain, supply chain and production - we will secure and protect one of the oldest and most undervalued food industries.

We need to aim big and do concrete!

Thank you.