The Role of Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture for Food Security and Nutrition
The ocean and the aquatic environment cover more than two-thirds of the surface of our planet and provide us the source of nourishment. It is clear that sustainable fisheries and aquaculture will play an important role in hunger alleviation, nutritional improvement and socio-economic activities. Especially, small scale fisheries and aquaculture activities in combination with agriculture and forestry are expected to contribute to self-sustenance in alimentation, livelihood improvement and rural development. Therefore, this comment is focused on three pillars of challenge in small scale fisheries and aquaculture, such as aquatic resource management, post-harvest activities and humanity, from the aspect of the implementation of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and Aquaculture (Code of Conduct), by posing a question; how can the artisanal fisheries and aquaculture be promoted in sustainable manners for food security and nutrition.
From the aspect of aquatic resource management, it is fundamental to implement the Code of Conduct transparently, comprehensively and suitable for local people under the consensus among stakeholders. First of all, it is important to know and understand the actual situation in artisanal fisheries and aquaculture by researches and analyses based on statistics, scientific data, socio-economic studies and field surveys including IUU issues and ecosystem based management. For example, some illegal fishing activities, such as using dynamites or poisons, exist in artisanal fishery, and they often cause physical injuries and negative impacts on environment. Artisanal distribution chains of fishery products are also complicated as there are sometimes hidden in traditional rules and customs among stakeholders, and it may cause quantitative difference between the data and the facts in catch, landing and distribution. Secondly, results from those studies and researches needs to be transferred to the stakeholders in order to raise their awareness of the situation as well as their comprehension for the implementation of the Code of Conduct. FAO’s knowledge products, such as communication for development, will help to encourage actors of small scale fisheries and aquaculture to participate in the decision making process for their responsible conducts as they have to play an incentive role for sustainable resource utilization and management. Moreover it is essential to coordinate conflicts in multi-level and cross-sectorial stakeholders in order to find political, scientific, environmental and socio-economic resolution. The sustainable aquatic resource management is a crucial issue, however, the right to access to the resource for the weak, such as artisanal stakeholders, should be protected. Small scale aquaculture production will improve the animal protein intake for rural populations, in parallel, legal frameworks corresponding to the ecosystem approach including water and land usage, hygienic control, biodiversity and prevention of fish diseases should be considered. As majority of the rural population is engaged in plural artisanal businesses, integrated development approaches and capacity building will be practical for fishery resource management and environmental protection in order to realize food security and safety, improve nutrition and livelihood and maintain healthy ocean and aquatic environment.
Improvement of post-harvest activities will promote sustainable fisheries and aquaculture effectively and efficiently. Fish is not only one of the good sources of animal protein, but also provides us important other micro-nutrients such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, known as omega-3 or DHA and EPA, which provide neurodevelopmental benefits and prevent from cardiovascular diseases. Those substances are contained highly in small and middle size pelagic fish, such as sardine, mackerel etc., which is accessible to the low income population in coastal regions. However fish is relatively perishable than other livestock and poultry products, therefore, quantitative management of production as well as quality control in whole chains of distribution are required to minimize post-harvest losses. From the aspect of qualitative change, the polyunsaturated fatty acids are oxidized easily and then produce peroxides, unpleasant odors and colors. Histamine poisoning occurs mainly in the small pelagic fish because of inadequate handling especially in temperature control. Moreover, overproduction and by-catch often cause dumping, thus, quantitative and qualitative management is highly required by applying adequate information tools, such as “i-Marine”. Fish processing and product development will help to improve preservability, add value to fishery products, promote to utilize less commercial species and disperse the fishing pressure on some commercial species. As the result, it will reduce post-harvest losses, increase the level of nutrition and sustain the revenue of fishers. Prioritizing self-sustenance and local consumption for food security and nutrition, improvement of market access and creation of value chains are also expected to promote consumption of various types of fish and its products. Throughout those activities, the implementation of Code of Conduct is encouraged with the application of eco-friendly fishing, qualitative and quantitative management and zero-emission of waste.
Combining with the resource management and improvement of post-harvest activities, it is fundamental to consider the population which is engaged in fisheries and aquaculture sector. In the case of Japan, fishery was once considered as a job to make a fortune at one stroke, however, the population in the sector is decreased year by year and then its communities become an aging society. There is also a kind of notion that fishing is hard, risky and unstable work under unclean and smelly working environment. Under the situation, it is difficult to obtain successors in this sector as young people tend to move to cities for their employment opportunities in service sectors than to stay in the villages for fishery related industry. As the result, a majority of Japanese vocational schools and universities related to fisheries and aquaculture has been renamed in order to maintain and increase the number of students. Therefore the negative image in fisheries and aquaculture should be changed into the positive one through development strategies, governance, scientific and technological innovation and investigation. Small scale fishery has been a kind of inherited business which requires experience and traditional know-how related to local customs. Adding to vulnerability caused by climate change, environmental degradation and natural disasters, intuition as well as luck may also influence livelihood and revenue of fishers. To stabilize small scale fisheries and aquaculture, technical assistance should be implemented in multi-dimension including risk management, hygiene and sanitary control, market access and value chains system… Creative concepts for sustainable development in this field, such as “smart fisheries community”, are required to increase aid and investment, to introduce social security and insurance and to promote employment. With social concern, environmental campaigns for aquatic ecosystem protection are welcomed, however, humanity in small scale fisheries and aquaculture is little noticed. Fisheries and aquaculture cannot exist without humans and their activities. Education, vocational training and enlightenment are necessary to raise motivation of young people who will be potential successors in this field with the respect of the Code of Conduct and relative environment policies.
Considering above mentioned issues, I believe that FAO shows dynamic leadership and integrated approaches for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture as well as food security and nutrition through its expertise and knowledge based management. FAO’s decentralized strategy will convert the knowledge based products into practices in order to promote small scale fisheries and aquaculture harmonizing with agro-forestry. I also attach importance to UN-based programs for healthy ocean and human activities and put confidence in the FAO role in technical guidance, stakeholders’ consensus building and coordination of multidisciplinary teams together with governments, academic and scientific institutions, related organizations, NGOs and private sectors.
Kikuko Sakai