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Legislating for an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) is complex, due to the holistic nature of EAF involving multiple factors that underpin the social, economic, environmental, and institutional aspects of fisheries sustainability. These factors include ecosystems integration, risks, intersectoral collaboration, research, participatory processes, monitoring, control, surveillance, and enforcement, among others. To assess how an EAF is being implemented through national policy and legal frameworks, FAO developed a diagnostic tool for implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries through national policy and legal frameworks. The present legal report on the EAF used the diagnostic tool to assess the alignment of selected policy and [...]

While the aquaculture sector has seen extraordinary global growth over recent years, it also faces a number of important challenges. Although aquaculture may reduce pressure on wild fish stocks, the fact remains that the sector can also have a range of negative environmental impacts. At the same time, a degraded environment, in particular poor water quality, can adversely affect the health of aquatic animals and plants used in aquaculture and therefore the economic sustainability of the sector. Moreover, if appropriate bio-security measures, in the sense of measures to protect aquatic animal health, aquatic plant health and human health, are not [...]

The ecosystem approach to inland fisheries management (EAIFM) requires the consideration of inland fisheries beyond the confines of the fisheries sector. Inland fisheries can be invisible in some fora and processes that can have major positive or negative impacts upon them. An ecosystem approach implies that inland fisheries should be considered beyond their subsector boundaries. Activities in other domains, such as land and water use, have major impacts on inland fisheries through, for example, habitat degradation and loss. Mainstreaming the values and needs of inland fisheries into these areas is required if their sustainability is to be achieved. The extent to [...]

Legislating for an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) is complex, due to the holistic nature of EAF involving multiple factors that underpin the social, economic, environmental, and institutional aspects of fisheries sustainability. These factors include ecosystems integration, risks, inter-sectoral collaboration, research, participatory processes, monitoring, control, surveillance, and enforcement, among others. To assess how the EAF is being implemented through national policy and legal frameworks, FAO developed A diagnostic tool for implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries through national policy and legal frameworks. The present legal report on the EAF used the diagnostic tool to assess the alignment of selected policy and [...]

Produced jointly by the secretariats of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), with contributions from multiple stakeholders, this technical guide addresses the integration of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) within the implementation of the UNCCD and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), thus opening a new chapter in ongoing efforts to combat desertification, land degradation, and drought. The guide outlines the practical applications of the VGGT – an internationally recognized framework on the [...]

Legislating for the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) is complex, due to the holistic nature of the EAF involving multiple factors that underpin the social, economic, environmental, and institutional aspects of fisheries sustainability. These factors include ecosystems integration, risks, inter-sectoral collaboration, research, participatory processes, monitoring, control, surveillance, and enforcement, among others. To assess how the EAF is being implemented through national policy and legal frameworks, FAO developed A diagnostic tool for implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries through national policy and legal frameworks.The present legal report on the EAF used the diagnostic tool to assess the alignment of selected policy [...]

Digital and automation solutions can solve labour bottlenecks, increase agricultural productivity, resilience and efficiency, and improve environmental sustainability. However, access is limited in low- and lower-middle-income countries, especially for small-scale producers. Based on ten case studies in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia, this study investigates the suitability of digital and automation solutions for small-scale producers, the main drivers and barriers to their adoption and the role of policies and regulations in creating an enabling environment.Findings show that technologies in the study countries are largely limited to smartphones and tablets, and related software tools (e.g. mobile applications). Most digital and automation solutions [...]

The purpose of the workshop was to support governance actors and community leads to learn and train local communities in moving from vulnerability assessment to adaptation planning and implementation in fisheries and aquaculture. Twenty-six participants (women and men) attended from Angola, Namibia and South Africa. The workshop was spread across two days. Day 1 provided an overview of some of the key ideas and tools for adaptation planning. Participants were reminded of the need to combine information from bottom-up and top-down assessment processes. A review of the adaptation toolbox developed by FAO helped guide partners in planning their adaptation; the importance [...]

Legislating for the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) is complex, due to the holistic nature of the EAF involving multiple factors that underpin the social, economic, environmental, and institutional aspects of fisheries sustainability. These factors include ecosystems integration, risks, inter-sectoral collaboration, research, participatory processes, monitoring, control, surveillance, and enforcement, among others. To assess how the EAF is being implemented through national policy and legal frameworks, FAO developed A diagnostic tool for implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries through national policy and legal frameworks.     The present legal report on the EAF used the diagnostic tool to assess the alignment of selected policy [...]

The 2022 edition of the flagship publication of the GFCM, The State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries, provides an up-to-date overview of fisheries status, trends and governance in the region. Now in its fourth instalment, the publication updates the findings from previous editions while analysing emerging issues in the fisheries sector, including the effects of management plans. For the first time, thanks to the recent consolidation of data quality indicators, trends in the fisheries sector are also analysed at the regional level. Based on data and information from GFCM contracting parties and cooperating non-contracting parties, The State of Mediterranean [...]