CEO Roundtables on Ocean - Ocean Stewardship Annual Review

 

 

CEO Roundtables on Ocean - Ocean Stewardship Annual Review 

 CEO Roundtable I: Sustainable Seafood

closing remarks

Carla Mucavi, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank the Global Compact for engaging the private sector in ocean stewardship. FAO is part of this process and is contributing to the development of the Compact’s guidances on aquaculture and marine capture fisheries.

I would also like to thank the speakers for their interventions today.

I want to share some reflections based on the discussions of how to achieve the twin ambitions of fully traceable and sustainable seafood and bridging food production with dietary needs.

First, the seafood industry is crucial for global food security and nutrition and socio-economic development. Fish consumption has been growing at twice the rate of population growth in recent decades, and outpaced consumption growth rates of other animal proteins, but it can still give a greater contribution to healthy and diversified diets with a smaller footprint on greenhouse emissions for a healthier planet.

Second, as aquatic food consumption is expected to continue to grow, sustainability needs to be firmly embedded into fisheries and aquaculture practices. Traceability can help demonstrate the protection of fish stocks and ecosystems for today and tomorrow and show that socioeconomic dimensions of sustainable development are being addressed. This is not one size fits all. The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the Port States Measure Agreement against IUU Fishing are among the instruments that can provide guidance to these efforts.  

Third, there is a need to enhance cooperation with the private sector. FAO is committed to this effort and is putting into practice new ways to engage with businesses. We are including specific private sector components to our fisheries and aquaculture projects. And we have launched the Hand in Hand Initiative. We need the seafood industry to join Blue Growth Initiatives to enhance fisheries and aquaculture sustainability for sustainable ocean growth and for development.

Finally, we need to frame our efforts to promote sustainable and traceable fisheries for healthy and diversified diets within a wider context, as part of a food systems approach across the 2030 Agenda and meeting the challenges of climate change. In this regard, fisheries and aquaculture are central to the upcoming 2021 UN Food Systems Summit 2021 and I encourage you to engage in this process.

Thank you for your attention.