FAO at the Fishery Forum: Global Experience of Blue Transformation

The three sources and three ingredients of FAO Moscow Office  delegation's success at the VII Global Fishery Forum and Seafood Expo organized in Saint Petersburg on 17–19 September, are a harmonious mixture of scientific practical discussion at the Round table, advocacy at own exhibition stand, and communication support in an intense collaboration with media.

The Round table was the key event where FAO Moscow Office presented the Organization’s flagship report The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 (SOFIA), as well as outcomes of the 36th session of FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI).

Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, moderated the discussion that took place on Thursday (traditionally the “fish day” in Russia).

We are honoured to be here with experts, scholars and representatives of civil society to talk about pressing issues relating to food security, sustainable agricultural development, and combating hunger, – said Andrei Yakovlev, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Fishery (Rosrybolovstvo).

We are living in a time when global challenges and opportunities require our collective coordinated response, Andrei Yakovlev continued. In the context of changing climate, growing population and limited natural resources this mission has acquired unprecedented importance. 

Today’s meeting provides us with a unique platform to exchange knowledge, ideas and best practices. We hope that the discussion we will have here today will help us find new solutions and strengthen our cooperation on the path towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals outlined by the UN.

I thank the hosts of the Round table and all our guests for your participation and commitment to contribute to common cause. Together we can make the world a better place, provide every person with sufficient and high-quality food. I wish you fruitful work and constructive solutions.

Our exchanges within the Fishery Forum Round Table have become a tradition. We are happy to have this long-standing cooperation with FAO, stressed Kirill Kolonchin, Director of VNIRO (Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography. VNIRO joined ASFA in 1972 (ASFA, a global information system and abstract database on aquatic sciences and fisheries – ed. note) and today uses its channels to share information on a regular basis.SOFIA, FAO's flagship report, is a very valuable publication. It has aroused interest not only among professionals, but also among all workers of the industry in general. In my view, the report contains not just statistical information, but an in-depth analysis both of fisheries and aquaculture on regional and national levels.

Although due to current international tensions VNIRO's communication with foreign partners has somewhat weakened, our collaboration with FAO continues to thrive. It is based both on respect for the Organization's global activities and trusting personal relationship we established with the leadership and experts of the Organization.

I congratulate FAO on the publication of the new issue of SOFIA in Russian. We are also looking forward to a prompt release of the Russian edition of our joint work on inland waters in the Russian Federation.

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The first day of the Forum featured a work meeting between FAO's delegation including Haydar Fersoy, FAO's senior expert on fisheries and aquaculture and Secretary of the Central Asian and Caucasus Regional Fisheries and Aquaculture Commission (CACFish), and Andrei Yakovlev, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Fishery (Rosrybolovstvo).

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For three days, students of Saint Petersburg State Agrarian University provided expert-level consultative services to visitors: Polina Voronina, Aleksandra Koval, Vladislav Dmitriyev, and Stanislav Chesnokov.

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Another important part of FAO Moscow Office delegation's activities was promotion of the Organization's strategic principles for fisheries and aquaculture in media.

During the Forum, Oleg Kobiakov, Director of FAO Moscow Office, gave an extensive interview to Vitaly Korneyev, columnist of the Saint Petersburg branch of the TASS federal news agency. The dialogue resulted in three publications on the following topics: FAO believes US will cede fish import leadership to China in coming years;  FAO is committed to women empowerment in fish industry; FAO warns of piracy in Sudan threatening fishing in Red Sea.

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Two articles based on the presentation of FAO's report State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 (SOFIA) made by Igor Shpakov, FAO Moscow Office consultant, appeared on the Veterinary Medicine and Life portal run by Yulia Melano and on the Agroexpert magazine's web-site: FAO Expert Reveals Prospects of Global Fisheries and Aquaculture and FAO Expert Listed Most Common Fish Species in Marine Capture Fisheries. 

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Another interview was with Polina Aslanova, executive editor of the Sfera Media Group.

The video record of the interview with Oleg Kobiakov and the article based on it appeared on the Svoye Fermerstvo [Your Farming Business] web-site created by Rosselkhozbank Media Group.

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OUR BACKGROUD

The Globefish Project is implemented within FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division and is responsible for the provision of up-to-date information on fish and fish products trade and markets, promoting information exchange among private sector, governments, academia, and stakeholders globally. 

ASFA is a global information system and abstract database on aquatic sciences and fisheries established in 1971 and providing access to full texts of documents, whose purpose is to ensure international cooperation and free access for global scientific community to information on fisheries and aquatic issues, promote its collection and dissemination.

Today ASFA database counts over 3.9 million links. All records are presented in a computer-processable format and include abstracts in English, descriptor words, geographical and taxonomic names, scientific indexing, and access to full texts of articles. 

Fifty countries are members of ASFIS/ASFA system, with data input centres in numerous leading institutes and universities processing information flows inside their countries. VNIRO as a national partner from Russia plays an active role in the global exchange of scientific data. These days Russian fisheries industry continues its successful digitalization. VNIRO and regional institutes have free access to global scientific information on the Internet.