MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

FAO calls for improved fisheries management

Booming fish exports are having a positive effect on food security in the developing world, but good management of fisheries by developing nations is essential if they are going to continue to benefit over the longer term, FAO said Tuesday.

An FAO report presented at a major meeting in Spain on the international trade in fish products, worth around 71 billion US dollars annually, said that the fish trade was so far having no detrimental effect on the amount of fish available for consumption as food in poor countries.

The UN agency told delegates from the 60 governments participating in the tenth meeting of its Sub-Committee on Fish Trade in Santiago de Compostela, that growing export earnings had increased employment, raised incomes and improved government services.

The value of the international fish trade increased from 15.5 billion in 1980 to over 71 billion US dollars in 2004, according to FAO.

Developing countries have particularly benefited from this boom, with their net earnings, exports minus imports, increasing from 3.4 billion to over 20 billion US dollars over the same period. This income exceeds the net foreign exchange revenue they earn from any other food commodity, including coffee and tea.

But FAO also cautioned that good management of fisheries by developing nations is essential if they are going to continue to benefit over the longer term.

"The fish trade helps poor countries shore up their food security situation" said Grimur Valdimarsson, Director of FAO's Fisheries Industry Division.

"But increasing international demand can at times result in excessive fishing pressure, leading to the over-fishing and wasteful use of stocks".

"Meeting demand must be balanced with sustainable management if developing countries want to continue to benefit this way", he added.

Currently, around 77% of fish consumed worldwide as food is supplied by developing countries.

Wealthy developed countries account for 81% of all imports of fish-based products, in value terms. Japan is the world's largest importer of fish and fish products, accounting for some 18% of all imports (valued at 14.6 billion US dollars), followed by the United States (12bn). Spain (5.2bn) is the world's third largest importer, followed by France (4.2bn), Italy (3.9bn), Germany (2.8bn) and the United Kingdom (2.8bn).

At this week's meeting FAO will be presenting draft guidelines aimed at giving authorities in both developed and developing countries guidance on making the international trade in fisheries products more sustainable.

A number of other issues will also be discussed, including the use of "eco-labels" to promote trade in responsibly harvested fish and the creation of traceability systems, which track fish "from net to table" as they move through the global trade network. Eco-labelling recently made the news when Wal-Mart, the world's largest retail store operator, announced plans to sell only fish bearing such labels within the next five years.

Comprised of 77 FAO members, the Sub-Committee on Fish Trade meets every two years to share information, discuss policy issues related to fish trade, and make recommendations to FAO regarding the agency's work on fisheries. It is the only international forum dedicated to ongoing debate regarding the global fish trade.