#STAYING AFLOAT HOW TO#

The FAO Director-General put forward three solutions to guide fisheries toward sustainability, including re-investing in marine and freshwater sustainability programmes, investing in ocean growth, and ensuring protection measures are met with effective management. Commercial fishing was rated the second deadliest profession on earth in 2019. Some 95 per cent of people hinging on seafood for their livelihoods live in Africa and Asia, many struggling to make ends meet despite the degree of danger involved in the work. Worldwide, one billion people rely on fish as their main source of animal protein, according to the UN N World Health Organization (WHO), and in some small island states, people meet their protein needs exclusively from seafood.Ī person derives, on average, 20.3 kilograms of top-quality protein and essential micronutrients from fish every year, with a rise in 3 percent of global fish consumption since the 1960’s, according to FAO.Īs far as economies go, around the world, one in ten people depend on fishing for their livelihoods and are often the poorest in society.įrom the mid-1970’s, developing countries have increased their net trade benefits from fish from almost zero to over 40 billion dollars each year, FAO’s Director of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Manuel Barange, pointed out at the Conference. In addition, inland fisheries (in rivers or fish farms), are feeling the pressure of a growing demand on freshwater species.

Plastic pollution, the effects of climate change, habitat degradation, and overfishing are draining marine fish stocks, with one in every three stocks overfished, compared to one in ten 40 years ago. With the concerning state of the world’s oceans and increasing demand for freshwater species keeping best practices at bay, FAO noted. The great provider of lifeĪchieving global sustainability in the seafood sector looks murky. Noting a “dangerous trend” in the fishing industry, the FAO chief said that while fisheries in developed regions are increasingly sustainable, meaning fished populations are being replenished, and conditions for industry workers are improving, developing regions lagging behind.

#STAYING AFLOAT HOW TO#

The International Symposium on Fisheries Sustainability, taking place from 18 to 21 November at FAO’s Rome headquarters, convenes researchers, business people and members of various other sectors to identify how to maximize food from the world’s rivers and oceans, without compromising the health of aquatic ecosystems. Donguy explained, thus, the world will need to increasingly rely on aquatic species to eat. “Fisheries are facing an important crossroad and the world needs a new vision in the 21st century”, the UN agency lead with in a press statement, echoing the main message by it’s Director General, Qu Dongyu, at the opening of a major conference on the matter, which opened Monday.īy 2050, humans will be nearly 10 billion in number, and “land alone will not feed us”, Mr.

Staying afloat