International Fish Trade Offers Risks and Rewards to Future Sustainability
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The International Fish Trade is a complex web of importers and exporters. World exports of fish reached an all time high of 92 billion dollars in 2007. It is interesting to note that total world production of fish was 145 million tones in 2007. How much of total world production was exported? 38 percent or 55 million tones, that’s a lot of fish changing hands, or should I say changing countries.
Who is producing all of this fish you might ask. Well, nearly half of all fish exports are produced in developing countries. The big consumers? You guessed it, developed countries. To be more precise developed countries account for 80 percent of all imports.
These facts sound great; it tells you that developing countries have found a market that they can rely on. Fish trade provides a niche that futures can be built on, and jobs and incomes can grow around.
The sad fact is that developing countries do not have the same resources, guidelines or know-how that developed countries such as the United States and Japan have could jeopardized this growth. If unsustainable practices are applied food security could be threatened in places that have the highest dependence of fish in the diet.
To try and prevent this from happening 52 members of the Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) have endorsed a set of technical guidelines intended to promote responsible international trade in fish and fishery products.
The FAO is calling on governments to take a number of steps to ensure that international trade in fish does not compromise the sustainable development of fisheries and aquatic resources.
The steps include:
- Adopting conservation and management measures for long-term conservation and sustainable use of aquatic resources, as a necessary foundation for sustainable fish trade;
- Developing indicators for measuring the biological, economic and social sustainability of fisheries
- Establishing catch documentation and certification schemes to track seafood products from point of capture or production to final destination;
- Targeting financial and technical assistance to developing countries to strengthen their capacity for fisheries management and responsible trade practices;
- Conducting periodic reviews of laws and regulations related to the international trade in fish products to determine if the reasons for their original creation continue to exist; translating into more jobs, better incomes, and increased government revenues.
- Collecting and disseminating accurate statistical information on international fish trade.
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Mike
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- Tags: Fish Trade, International
