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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 [...]

O presente relatório jurídico sobre a AEP utilizou a ferramenta de diagnóstico para analisar o alinhamento de instrumentos políticos e jurídicos selecionados de Angola com a AEP. Esta análise examinou em que medida 82 requisitos legais da AEP se encontram refletidos nas políticas e legislação angolanas relevantes para o setor das pescas do país e para outros setores que interagem com as pescas (como o ambiente, a fauna selvagem e os ecossistemas e o meio marítimo). Com base neste diagnóstico preliminar, foram identificadas lacunas nos instrumentos analisados e formuladas recomendações sobre domínios específicos que necessitam de ser melhorados.Legislar de acordo [...]

At a global level there is increasing recognition of the role that fisheries policies and social protection can jointly play in combating poverty and hunger, whilst simultaneously promoting sustainable natural resources management. Efforts are being made at the country level to bring together these two domains, but more needs to be done. For fisheries-dependent communities, the full range of benefits derived from greater coherence between fisheries policies and social protection is not yet widely understood; nor are the means through which improved coherence can be promoted. This Framework for analysis and action seeks to fill these knowledge gaps. By drawing from [...]

This Diagnostic tool is complementary to the Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper 671/1, titled Strengthening coherence between social protection and fisheries policies: Framework for Analysis and Action, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. It provides practical instruments for assessing the level of coherence between fisheries and social protection policies and programmes within a country. It supports users in identifying and mapping the scope and nature of links between the two sectors, as well as in understanding people’s experiences and perceptions of these synergies and how the synergies (or lack thereof) affect the livelihoods of fisheries-dependent communities. [...]

Biodiversity for food and agriculture comprises all the components of biodiversity that contribute to crop and livestock production, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture – both wild and domesticated, and at genetic, species and ecosystem levels. It is vital to food security and nutrition, livelihoods and the supply of a range of ecosystem services. The Framework for Action on Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture was endorsed by the FAO Council in 2021. It contains more than 50 individual actions grouped into three strategic priority areas: characterization, assessment and monitoring; management (sustainable use and conservation); and institutional frameworks. It was developed in response to [...]

The MedBycatch project works on improving knowledge, providing skills, tools and means towards the reduction of incidental catch of vulnerable species in the Mediterranean, with particular focus in Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Italy and Croatia. The on-the-ground activities aim at implementing standardised data collection and testing mitigation measures towards effectively reducing single and multi-taxa bycatch, induced by trawls, longlines, gillnets and purse seines, through a collaboration approach between national fisheries institutes, local NGOs and fishers and fishing associations. The project plans to leverage change within all the coastal Mediterranean countries on the issue of incidental catch of vulnerable species, including through communication [...]

The Framework for Environmental and Social Management (FESM) establishes environmental and social performance requirements for FAO programming. The FESM includes key elements of a human rights-based approach with the goal to ensure that people and the environment are protected from any potential adverse impacts of FAO programmes and projects. It is also intended to ensure that all stakeholders have ample opportunities to actively participate in the activities of programmes and projects, and have access to effective channels to voice their concerns about them. The FESM reflects the organization’s commitment to sustainability with a new set of guiding principles, two operational [...]

This policy brief summarizes the findings of surveys among financial and insurance providers, fishers and fisherfolk organizations in the Philippines in 2021. It explains why financial services are important for small-scale fishers (SSF) and provides recommendations for improving their access to finance and insurance. SSF make an important contribution to food security and the rural economy.The average income of most SSF is below the poverty line of USD 2 500/year. For economic growth and sustainable fishing operations SSF need access to financial and insurance services. Less than 50 percent of the SSF have access to financial services. Only 30 percent [...]

The global aquatic food industry, long under scrutiny over environmental sustainability concerns, has also come under increased scrutiny within the past decade over poor working conditions and severe human rights violations, including widespread use of forced labour and child labour. However, there is limited research and documentation available on child labour in fishing, aquaculture and fish and aquatic food processing globally. Much of the available evidence is centred on labour conditions in global supply chains. However, due to higher levels of informality, limited law enforcement capacity, and so on, it is more likely that children produce fish and aquatic-sourced foods [...]