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Fisheries and aquaculture support the livelihoods of millions of people around the world. In rural and coastal communities they often play a key role for a society’s culture and identity. As these communities know well, fish is also a healthy and nutritious food, with the potential to feed our growing planet. But as the population grows, the demand for fish increases, and our natural resources are increasingly stressed. Sustainable management and development is crucial to preserving these resources for future generations.  Like the Green Economy principles that preceded it, FAO’s Blue Growth Initiative emphasizes the three pillars of sustainable development – [...]

As part of FAO’s Blue Growth Initiative (BGI) the FAO Member Countries of the Eastern Africa Sub-Region met to agree on a strategy for the Development of Fisheries and Aquaculture within the Blue Growth Initiative in Eastern Africa (BGI Strategy). The BGI is an FAO flagship initiative that aims at supporting more productive, responsible and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture sectors by improving the governance and management of the aquatic ecosystems, by conserving biodiversity and habitats, and by empowering communities. The BGI is the sustainable growth and development emanating from economic activities in the oceans, wetlands and coastal zones that minimize [...]

The publication consolidates a variety of sources of information into a single coherent review in order to provide a quick and general understanding of the status of fisheries and aquaculture in the Pacific Islands region. It is an update of the 2011 FAO publication ‘Fisheries of the Pacific Islands: Regional and national information’ by Robert Gillett and the 2010 FAO online fishery and aquaculture country profiles for the 14 independent Pacific Island countries. The 400-page book consists of two main parts: a regional overview, and the updated fisheries and aquaculture country profiles for the 14 independent Pacific Island countries:  The regional chapter describes the region’s two main categories of fishery resources: oceanic [...]

ENHANCING FISHERY MANAGEMENT IN THE WESTERN CENTRAL ATLANTIC FISHERY COMMISSION AREA At the 14th and 15th sessions of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC), the European Union (EU) member countries expressed an urgent need to improve fisheries data and information collection in the wider Caribbean region. The identified data gaps lessened the effectiveness of significant efforts made to improve fishery management, and constituted one of the major reasons preventing a change of WECAFC status towards a management organization. The project aimed to contribute to the availability of high quality information for fisheries management and development in the area, in support [...]

This document explores experiences with aquatic protected areas building on work presented at the IUCN World Parks Congress (WPC) held in Sydney, Australia, on 12–19 November 2014, in the context of livelihoods and food security. It includes: (i) ten papers reporting on the interface of MPA/protected areas with livelihoods and food security, based on case studies in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania; (ii) an eleventh contribution providing a more general overview of MPAs and food security and how to assess their impact; and (iii) a final paper synthesizing the conclusions of the papers and discussing the observed outcomes of aquatic PAs, together with problems and solutions. [...]

This issue of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture aims to provide objective, reliable and up-to-date data and information to a wide range of readers – policy-makers, managers, scientists, stakeholders and indeed all those interested in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. As always, the scope is global and the topics many and varied. This edition uses the latest official statistics on fisheries and aquaculture to present a global analysis of trends in fish stocks, production, processing, utilization, trade and consumption. It also reports on the status of the world’s fishing fleets and analyses the make-up of human engagement in [...]

Forests play important provisioning and supporting roles in the livelihoods of rural households (Byron and Arnold, 1999, Sunderlin et al., 2005) and the majority of those who live in extreme poverty are reliant on forests for their livelihood. Products from non-cultivated ecosystems such as natural forests, woodlands, wetlands, lakes, rivers, and grasslands can be a significant income source for rural households providing energy, food, construction materials and medicines both for subsistence and cash uses. Beginning with seminal studies on environmental resource use (e.g. Cavendish, 2000) the contribution of forest and other environmental resources to household income accounts were found to [...]

Strengthening of statistical systems for fishery in Central Africa There is a widely recognized need of strengthening statistical and information systems for fisheries in Central Africa in order to support the process of managing maritime fishing resources in a sustainable manner. To meet these needs, the project aims to strengthen national capacities of data collection on fisheries, to develop and implement databases as well as to develop an information exchange system on a sub-regional level which will be compatible with national information systems. Duration: 01/05/2014  - 01/11/2016

Capture fisheries support the livelihoods of over 120 million people. Small-scale fisheries produce two-thirds of all catches destined for direct human consumption and provide 90% of the employment in the sector. Nicole Franz, Fisheries Planning Analyst and Yvette Diei Ouadi, Fishery Industry Officer of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department explain the importance of supporting small-scale fishers, fish workers and their communities to ensure food security for all. They describe the FAO policy work, including key policy messages. See all videos in the Policy and Governance series:  AR  CH  EN   FR  RU  SP

Pollution, illegal fishing, over-exploitation and climate change have become major threats to aquatic eco-systems. We need to change how the planet's marine and freshwater resources are managed. Lahsen Ababouch, Director of the FAO Fisheries and Agriculture Department together with Rebecca Metzner, Senior Fishery Officer explain how the Blue Growth Initiative contributes to balancing food security, economic growth, social development and the sustainable use of aquatic living resources. They describe the FAO policy work, including key policy messages, to integrating all three. See all videos in the Policy and Governance series :  AR  CH  EN   FR  RU  SP