This past March, the event "Promoting sustainable fisheries and decent work in Italy" was organized in Rome by UILA pesca and with the support of Italy’s Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies and Tourism. This important event, dedicated to the promotion of sustainable fisheries and decent work in the fishereis sector, brought together Italian government officials, labour unions and fisherfolk alongside staff from FAO, FAO’s General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) and the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO).

Fabrizio De Pascale, UILA pesca's National secretary, opened the event by reminding the audience about Pope's Francis' message to the fishermen and women – calling decent work in the fisheries sector a human right. Moreover, Gianni Rosas, ILO Director for Italy and San Marino, emphasized that FAO’s Port State Measures Agreement and ILO’s Convention 188 offered a strong opportunity to strengthen the entire fisheries sector by ending illegal fishing, and ensuring better working and living conditions aboard fishing vessels.

This joint collaboration between FAO and ILO includes a series of regional workshops on decent work in the fisheries sector. Further collaboration is occurring through the joint Ad-hoc International Maritime (IMO)-FAO Joint Working Group on IUU fishing and related matters. 

Audun Lem, Deputy-Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, remarked that there has been increased media attention on "abusive conditions of modern slavery, which includes forced or even slave labour conditions in processing plants and aboard fishing vessels. FAO renews its support to the ILO in our joint work to improve international labour standards in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. We will continue to increase our collaboration in this area of work.”

Furthermore, Lem also announced FAO work being undertaken, through a mandate from FAO's Committee on Fisheries, to develop a guidance document for social responsibility along the fisheries value chain. This guidance will be nogotiated by member countries at the FAO Subcommittee on Fish Trade to be held in Vigo, Spain in November. In preparing this document, FAO is organizing a number of stakeholder dialogues with the various stakeholders - government officials, fisherfold organizations, non-governmental organizations, labour unions, private sector and retailers.

For more information on social responsibility in the fisheries value chain, please visit our new website section here.