FAO Focusing on Aquaculture in Providing Food, Jobs
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – During a 5-day meeting in Rome, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO) reaffirmed the importance of fisheries and aquaculture, its role in improving global food security and nutrition, and accepting the role of small-scale fish farms.
The 35th Session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI35) was opened by FAO Director General Qu Dongyu on September 5, stressing on the need for efforts to ensure efficient, inclusive, and sustainable development.
As the world currently faces more challenges, the role of fisheries and aquaculture in providing food and jobs around the globe should be considered, Qu said, adding, “Our valuable aquatic resources must be managed and used responsibly and sustainably, guided by the best sciences available.”
In the COFI meeting, which ended on September 9, the participants discussed, among other things, the approaches to global sustainable aquaculture and the ways to improve fisheries management and eliminate illegal fishing.
Based on FAO’s recent report, aquaculture has achieved dramatic growth as consumer demands will continue to rise. Only in Asia, the total production of fisheries has increased and hit the new record of 214 million tonnes in 2020.
FAO is also committed to an initiative called ‘Blue Transformation’ to meet the challenges of food security and environmental sustainability. The Blue Transformation roadmap recognizes the importance of aquatic food systems as drivers of employment, economic growth, social development, and environmental recovery. It is aimed at transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable aquatic food systems for better production and nutrition, better environment, and a better life in which no one is left behind.
The Committee on Fisheries (COFI), a subsidiary of the FAO Council, was stablished in 1965 and is the only global intergovernmental forum that concentrates on the issues and challenges related to fisheries and aquaculture.
