FISH4ACP on a worldwide virtual island tour

18 July 2022, Rome - From the Dominican Republic and Guyana to Cabo Verde and from Sao Tome and Principe to Papua New Guinea and the Marshall Islands, FISH4ACP’s Virtual Island Tour went around the world to discover opportunities and challenges of fisheries and aquaculture in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). 

“For Small Island Developing States, the ocean means everything,” said Erdenebileg Sandagdorj on 23 June 2022 at the start of FISH4ACP’s virtual tour featuring Small Island Developing States (SIDS). “It shapes the local economy, but also the lives, the culture and the history of the islanders.” 

Erdenebileg Sandagdorj, Chief, Policy Coordination, Monitoring and Reporting Service, Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, added: “Harnessing the ocean’s resources and managing sustainable fisheries remains an absolute priority.” 

The online event looked at the role of value chain development in helping island nations to unlock their aquatic resources. At the same time, it gave fisher folk and fish workers a forum to speak about how they make a living and cope with the challenges of global warming and COVID-19. 

“Despite their diversity, many SIDS face similar challenges,” said Arnljotur B. Bergsson commenting on the tales of fisher folk in a video on SIDS where FISH4CAP works – the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Sao Tome and Principe and the Marshall Islands. “Allowing fish stocks to maintain themselves, supplying small markets with varying amounts of fish, vulnerability to external shocks and brain drain.” 

FISH4ACP is a global fish value chain development initiative led by the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) implemented by FAO with funding from the European Union (EU) and with funding from the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).  

The initiative has been organizing virtual tours since 2020 to foster an online conversation on fisheries and aquaculture value chain development.  

Arnljotur B. Bergsson, a Blue Transformation-consultant advising FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture department, went on to highlight the similarity in opportunities for SIDS. He pointed at the resourcefulness of islanders, product variation beyond major species such as tuna, and aquaculture. “There are unrealized economic and social gains to be harvested throughout SIDS aquatic food value chains,” he added. 

The Virtual Island Tour brought together around 100 value chain stakeholders, donors and the development community. It was co-hosted by several initiatives in support of fisheries and aquaculture in SIDS, including FAO's Office of SIDS, Least Developed Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries (OSL), SVC4SIDS and STREIT. 

From East Sepik province in Papau New Guinea, Job Opu, National Coastal Fishing Operations Officer from the EU-funded STREIT PNG Programme, explained that aquaculture is an important source of nutritious food and contributes to the household income of small-scale farming families, like Lewis and Rebeca Wera, who featured in a video on STREIT.   

A film from Cabo Verde showed that finance and gender equity are some of the major hurdles in tuna fisheries there, according to José Lopes da Veiga, National Coordinator of the Korean-funded SVC4SIDS, focused on improving opportunities for high-value species in SIDS and enhancing sustainable development and competitiveness of fisheries and aquaculture value chains. 

The ensuing panel discussion zoomed in on the impact of recent crises on SIDS food systems.  

“SIDS have been disproportionally affected by the disruption of food supply chains due to the COVID-pandemic,” said Simmone Rose, a Senior Programme Officer at FAO's Office of SIDS, Least Developed Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries. 

Christelle Pratt, delivering the closing remarks to the event, concurred: “Small Island Developing States are extremely vulnerable to exogenous shocks.”  

Ms Pratt, the OACPS Assistant Secretary General for Environment and Climate Action, concluded: “It is of great importance to support the fisheries sector, which is really the cornerstone of the livelihoods, economies, and cultures of the 38 OACPS Small Island Developing States, with immense contributions to food security, health and well-being, and sustainable development.”