FAO, Cooperation with

IMO and Fisheries

Capacity

Development Program

Somalia

Conference on Capacity Building to

Counter Piracy off the Coast of Somalia IMO

15 May 2012

Michele Kuruc

FAO

Service Coordinator

Fisheries and Aquaculture

Achieving food security for all

FAO's mandate is to

-raise levels of nutrition,

-improve agricultural productivity,

-better the lives of rural populations and

-contribute to the growth of the world economy.

FAO profile

191 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union.

7 Departments

almost 4000 people

present in over 130 countries.

The decentralized network includes five regional offices, 11 subregional offices,

two multidisciplinary teams, 74 fully fledged country offices and more.-

Fish is a major source of nutrition

and high-quality animal protein,

supplying over 3 billion people

with at least 15%

of their average protein intake.

It also contributes significantly to

national economies:

globally, fisheries and aquaculture

support the livelihoods of about

540 million people,

that's 8 percent of the world's population.

Fully exploited

52%

Overexploited

18%

Depleted

9%

Underexploited

2%

Moderately

exploited

18%

Recovering

1%

State of the World’s Fish Stocks

About 80% are

fully exploited

or overfished- FAO State of World

Fisheries and Aquaculture

2010

IUU Fishing includes . . .

• Fishing in contravention of the laws and regulations of a country or an international agreement

• Misreporting catches to the relevant authority

• Fishing in a way that undermines management efforts to conserve marine species and ecosystems

ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED AND UNREGULATED FISHING (IUU)

• IUU fishing is worth an estimated US$10-23 billion annually

• IUU fishing is a complex global phenomenon that requires a global solution

• Fleet capacity continues to increase

• No global information picture is available to support risk assessment and decision-making (the information void)

Fig. 1. Number of incriminated vessels for fishing illegally between 1980 and 2003. Source: Based on Sea Around Us IUU

database; www.seaaroundus.org.

The drivers of illegal fishing- money, opportunity, lack of deterrent

• high value of catch relative to low capital and running costs of illegal vessels;

• higher cost of legitimate business

compared to illegal association with other illegal activities such as smuggling and money laundering;

• limited access to often overcrowded

legitimate fisheries; • extreme remoteness of resources /

policing difficult; • flag states are not party to or ignore

international agreements; weak governance

• flag states unwilling to control their own vessels;

• ineffective policing/inspection and

management institutions;

• poor traceability; and • penalties that are insufficient and often

fail to deter.

• Economic

• Loss of revenue (both domestic and export)

• Loss of jobs and livelihoods

• Biological/Ecosystem

• Damage to fish stocks from over-fishing

• Undermines all aspects of fisheries management

• Damage to sensitive ecosystems

• Social

• Jeopardizes food security

• Conflicts between small-scale and industrial fishermen

• Has no regard for labour and safety at sea laws

• Undermines the rule of law and thrives most where controls are weak or absent…

Safety of fishermen and fishing vessels

• FAO/IMO cooperation on safety of fishing vessels and fishermen

• Recent voluntary FAO/ILO/IMO instruments:

– Safety Recommendations

– Implementation Guidelines

FAO/IMO cooperation in the field

• Global FAO safety at sea project for small-scale fisheries in developing countries with joint FAO-IMO component

• FAO/ILO/IMO voluntary instruments used as a guide

• Safety for fishermen website:

www.safety-for-fishermen.org

Pollution prevention

• Pollution prevention from fishing vessels

• Revision of Annex V of MARPOL & the Guidelines for the Implementation of Annex V

• Improvement of the integration of

fisheries and aquaculture with environmental protection

and biological diversity

•Contribution to national economies,

livelihoods and food and nutrition security

•Consumption by those near coasts, lakes and

rivers who have access to markets

•Average regional fish production exceeds 160

000 metric tonnes annually, Somalia 16 174

•Major potential to improve

–Strengthened governance/management,

–improved handling, processing and markets

– development of the aquaculture sub sector

– using the ecosystem based approach

•Rehabilitation and reconstruction of fish processing plants, capacity

development in fish processing and marketing

•Increasing supply and per capita consumption of fish through appropriate

processing, awareness raising and marketing

•Development of a sustainably managed “small pelagic” fishery off

Somalia to supply fish for processing (depending on security)

•Building capacity of all stakeholders including small scale fishers

associations, private sector, government and development partners

•Strengthening governance of the sector. (this would include technical

assistance in fisheries management and monitoring, control and surveillance)

•Integration of Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management into

national and regional planning for the sector.

Thank you FAO

Michele Kuruc