The Sub-Committee on Fisheries Management is a forum for discussing fisheries management issues at national, regional and global levels. It deals with technical and policy matters in line with FAO's mission, and actively collaborates with relevant regional and international organizations, countries, stakeholder groups, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), forging new collaborations where needed.
Establishment
The Sub-Committee on Fisheries Management was established during the Thirty-Fifth session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), in accordance with Rule XXX-10 of the General Rules of the Organization and Rule
VII of the COFI Rules of Procedure.
Membership
The Sub-Committee is open to all Member Nations of the Organization. Additionally, non-Member states of the Organization that are members of the United Nations, any of its Specialized Agencies or the International
Atomic Energy Agency, may seek admission to the Sub-Committee. The admission is subject to the approval by the FAO Council.
Observers
Entities and registered COFI observers can join the Sub-Commitee by contacting [email protected].
Main functions
The primary functions of the Sub-Committee on Fisheries Management are to provide essential technical and policy guidance on fisheries governance and management, with the aim of advancing the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. Furthermore, it identifies significant global issues and trends in fisheries management and sustainable development that require urgent measures, offering guidance and recommendations for addressing them.
The Sub-Committee collaborates closely with both the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture and the sub-Committee on Fish Trade, further enriching the scope of its engagement in fisheries-related matters.
For a comprehensive description of the Sub-Committee’s functions, refer to the full Terms of Reference here (page 68).
During its inaugural Session, the Sub-Committee will establish its groundwork, focusing on key topics like effective fisheries management tools and processes, with an emphasis on small-scale marine and inland fisheries. Members will share successful experiences in management systems implementation, highlighting the critical need to integrate ecological, social, economic, nutrition and gender considerations into management plans and policies.
Discussions on effective management will also cover targeted aspects of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, including the identification of cost-efficient, innovative and tailored monitoring, control and surveillance mechanisms, as well as enforcement schemes to address this issue.
The importance of and approaches to integrate biodiversity considerations in fisheries management will be discussed in the context of the Kunming – Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Climate-resilient fisheries management will also be on the agenda; how to mainstream climate change considerations into fisheries policies and available decision support tools will be discussed.
During this Session, countries will be called upon to review the methodological updates to FAO's approach for developing the State of the Stock index (SoSI), published biennially, since 1971, and in the FAO's the State of world Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report since 1997. These updates aim to enhance transparency, coverage, and measurement accuracy to align with the ongoing transformations that have affected fish stocks and dominant species.