A Regional Workshop on Adapting to Climate Change: the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Near East
10/11/2009-12/11/2009
The Regional Office for the Near East of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations will hold in cooperation with the WorldFish Center in Egypt a Regional Workshop on “Adapting to Climate Change: the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Near East and North Africa Region” during the period from 10 to 12 November 2009 at the WorldFish Center’s International Research and Training Center, Abassa, Sharkia, 90 km northeast of Cairo, Egypt.
The regional workshop will be attended by fishery and aquaculture scientists from thirteen Member countries of the FAO Regional Office (Egypt, Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia), in addition to WorldFish Center and FAO staff. The Workshop is a follow-up to the last session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries held in 2007 and 2009 and to the concerns expressed at the 29th FAO Regional Conference for the Near East and North Africa (March 2008) on the impact of climate change in the region.
Climate change is a compounding threat to the sustainability of capture fisheries and aquaculture development. The FAO and the WorldFish Center have agreed to jointly implement a regional multidisciplinary workshop on “Adapting to Climate Change: the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Near East and North Africa Region”. The objectives of the Workshop are to: 1) develop awareness amongst Member countries and stakeholders of the need for Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries and Aquaculture and of its implementation on the basis of the best available knowledge and information; 2) strengthen capacity amongst FAO Member countries for planning and implementation of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries and Aquaculture; 3) improve knowledge and awareness of the current and future implications of climate change for fisheries and aquaculture; and 4) provide guidance on best practices for adaptive planning and management, and adaptive strategies in general, for coping with climate change.