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FAO, with the collaboration of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea (MOF), and the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) opened today the 3-days “Inter-regional Workshop on Fisheries Co-management Capacity Development” to launch the newly developed fisheries co-management knowledge products and to explore similarities and differences among fisheries co-management systems around the world. “We hope that this event will spread the knowledge about fisheries co-management and will lead to more successful cases around the world.”  Said Mr. Jo Jung-hee, Vice President of the Korea Maritime Institute. “This workshop is a venue for governments, academia, and fishers to share their opinions on co-management measures in order to ensure effective marine resource management and the development of fishing communities” added Mr. Byoung Gi Kim, Director General of Maritime Affairs, Agriculture and Fisheries Bureau while welcoming participants. Mr. Kyung-Kyoo Lee, Deputy Minister for Fisheries Policy of the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea greeted the participants with a recorded message.

FAO strives for a Blue Transformation of aquatic food systems, recognizing their importance as drivers of employment, economic growth, social development, and environmental recovery. Advancing in a sustainable fisheries co-management can help increase income and improve livelihoods and promote economic growth, particularly in countries that rely on the fisheries sector for their well-being underlined Mr. Shengyao Tang, Partnership and Liaison Office in the Republic of Korea during the workshop opening. 

The shared management of fisheries promotes a dialogue between different actors to support the sustainable use of aquatic resources. Fisheries co-management is based on a partnership in which governments, local fishers, and stakeholders share the responsibility for more sustainable management of fisheries. Fisheries co-management is a process of fisheries governance, maturing, adjusting, and adapting to changing conditions over time. Fisheries co-management can serve as a mechanism for power sharing, institution building, enhanced trust and social capital, problem-solving, knowledge-sharing, social learning, collaborative opportunities and encouraging collective action. 

Within this framework, FAO has developed a series of innovative tools: 

• The Guidebook for evaluating fisheries co-management effectiveness, which is to be used to evaluate the effectiveness of an existing fisheries co-management system operating at a fishers, community or sector level, or in a spatially defined area. It presents a flexible approach that can be used in many types of fisheries co-management systems with different contexts and characteristics.
• The way through the Guidebook is also illustrated in brief in a short handbook, which contains main topics and referrals to the publication.
• The e -Learning course provides guidance on the co-management evaluation.
• The online toolbox, a collection of tools and resources that can be used in the evaluation process.

Why evaluate fisheries co-management?

The evaluation of the performance of a fisheries co-management system and its plan is to be used to enhance its effectiveness in delivering benefits and in contributing to environmental, social and economic sustainability and good governance. The results of the evaluation can be used to increase knowledge about the success of fisheries co-management in order to improve overall fisheries management, and societal level governance and human and ecological well-being.

KOFAP – The Korea FAO Sustainable and Innovative Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme

The Korea FAO Sustainable and Innovative Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme (KOFAP) has been established in 2020 as the result of a collaboration agreement among the Government of the Republic of Korea and the FAO Fisheries Division. The collaborative partnership aims to achieve a more sustainable, innovative and collaborative fisheries and aquaculture sector through the development of new tools, information dissemination and collaborative networks. The synergy created by the collaboration seeks to enable more efficient fisheries and aquaculture mechanisms for more effective and inclusive food systems.
The Smart Fisheries Co-management project is hosted under the KOFAP umbrella.

Resources

Video: Enhancing fisheries co-management  

Brochure: KOFAP- Korea-FAO Sustainable and Innovative Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme

Web: Smart Fisheries Co-management project website

Contact

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