Fisheries Stock Assessment and Sustainable Fisheries Management

Geneva – The FAO Liaison Office in Geneva, in collaboration with the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, organized the first session of the Geneva Fisheries Trade Talks series of 2023 at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to discuss the global fisheries stock assessment and sustainable fisheries management.

This session included a presentation from Rishi Sharma, Senior Fishery Resources Officer of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division and a panel discussion with the participation of Simon FungeSmith, Senior Fishery Officer of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, João Nunes, International Relations Officer, of the European Commission, Ridwan Mulyana, Director for Fish Resource Management, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of the Republic of Indonesia and Hüseyin Dede, Senior Officer of the General Directorate for Aquaculture and Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Türkiye.

Rishi Sharma provided an overview of the current status of overfishing, sustainable fisheries management, and ways to achieve sustainable fisheries targets by 2030. He highlighted the importance of measuring performance and targets and discussed biological reference points (BRP) such as biomass-based BRP, fishing mortality-based BRP, and trigger points. He illustrated the trajectory of the status of fish stocks over time, discussed uncertainties in modeling and impacts on decision making and presented the history of fisheries management and global trends in stock status.

Simon FungeSmith presented the characteristics and diversity of Asian marine fisheries and their influence on the management and measurement of sustainability of stocks. He emphasized the importance of using multi-species assessment, particularly for diverse fisheries, as single-stock models are only appropriate for highly targeted industrial fisheries and are expensive for coastal fisheries in Asia.

Panelists from the European Commission, the Republic of Indonesia and Türkiye shared their perspectives and experiences concerning fisheries stock assessment and sustainable fisheries management at national and regional levels.

João Nunes discussed various aspects of EU fisheries, including the structure of the fishing fleet, the Common Fisheries Policy, sustainability and management in EU and non-EU waters, data collection, and the status of fish stocks.

Ridwan Mulyana described the marine and fisheries resources in Indonesia including the marine protected area, small-scale and artisanal fisheries in Indonesia and the roles that marine and fisheries play in the country. He also highlighted the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in Indonesia from 1997 to 2022 and the methods used to calculate fish stock resources, which involve the National Commission on Fish Stock Assessment (Komnas KAJISKAN).

Husein Dede provided information on the aquatic resources in Türkiye, including the water surface area, fishing fleet, and the status of fisheries and aquaculture in the country and highlighted fisheries management and control at the national level, which includes Fisheries Law, regulations, and decrees.

Overall, the session provided an opportunity to further elaborate on the issue of stock assessment and sustainability, including the associated challenges and to demonstrate the existing and emerging FAO knowledge and methods on the topic.

FAO Geneva Trade Talk series
The FAO Liaison Office in Geneva organizes technical dialogues under the FAO in Geneva Trade Talks series (FAO in Geneva Agriculture Trade Talks and FAO in Geneva Fisheries Trade Talks) in collaboration with the Markets and Trade Division (EST) and the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division (NFI). These events aim to inform trade stakeholders, in Geneva and beyond, on timely issues in relation to agriculture and trade, showcase the analytic work of FAO and provide factual input to Members on issues that could be relevant to ongoing discussions.