Most people understand that fisheries are a renewable resource that cannot provide an endless supply of fish. Marine and inland fisheries will not be sustainable unless we manage them more carefully. Towards that end, on 31 October 1995, the twenty - eighth Session of the Conference adopted the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The Code was developed by FAO and takes into account the many discussions with representatives from United Nations agencies, other international organizations and non - governmental organizations who have actively contributed since 1982. The Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries is meant to be applied along with a number of other important conventions and agreements including the:
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982;
Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, 1992;
1992 Declaration of Cancun, and
1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, in particular, Chapter 17 of Agenda 21.
These are voluntary guidelines. Individuals or groups can use these guidelines as a checklist of issues that should receive attention when developing aquaculture.
Because of the extreme diversity in almost every aspect of aquaculture and fisheries, readers should use these guidelines in accordance to their needs. For example the legislative aspect may be strong in one country and be the first priority of concern in another. Long term progress towards workable Codes of Conduct in individual countries will be made in small steps. In the meantime, everyone involved can point to small successes elsewhere to argue for their adoption at home.
Interested readers are invited to help FAO by sending information on related technical, policy or legal matters which might be useful in updating, evaluating and improving the Guidelines and in developing more information materials to promote responsible development of aquaculture.
Further information on the Code and its provisions can be obtained at:
http://www.fao.org/fi/agreem/codecond/codecon.asp
