Contacts: In Abuja: Kristyn Ebro +1-202-468-6826 Kebro@worldbank.org In Washington DC: Sergio Jellinek +1-202-458-2841 Sjellinek@worldbank.org Abuja, August 24, 2005—Developing countries, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the World Fish Center, and the World Bank today launched a new Global Program on Fisheries (PROFISH) at the NEPAD Fish for All Summit held in Abuja, Nigeria, to turn the rising tide of depletion of fisheries and increasing degradation of marine habitats. Released at the launch, a new publication, Turning the Tide – Saving Fish and Fishers, defines an approach for reversing the present trend, and calls for a set of measures to institute good and equitable global governance in order to ensure sustainable fisheries at country, regional, and global levels.  “Rapidly growing coastal populations, poverty, rising demand for fish, changes in fishing technology and subsidies, habitat destruction, and weak governance of the shared fish resources all conspire to bring many of the world’s fisheries to the brink of collapse,” said Warren Evans, Environment Director, The World Bank. Responding to the crisis PROFISH is a programming and funding partnership between key fishery sector donors, international financial institutions, developing countries, stakeholder organizations, and international agencies designed to work with countries at a global level, focusing on fisheries policy reform, good governance, and implementation of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. PROFISH will assist developing countries in the design and implementation of sector strategies and plans for sustainable fisheries, and to integrate these policies and plans into the national economic planning frameworks At the global level, PROFISH will address the issues of illegal fishing, subsidies, building knowledge on approaches to address fisheries problems, and raising awareness in favor of sustainable fisheries policies.
“PROFISH is providing fish for food, livelihoods, health, and the environment,” said Stella Williams, Member and Board of Trustee for the WorldFish Center. “WorldFish Center is proud to be a partner in such and important initiative.” “If we’re talking about poverty, if we’re talking about fishing,” said Mohand Laenser, Moroccan Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Fisheries, “then we have to also talk about the fish and their protection. This is dependent on a good understanding of the fisheries resources. PROFISH will help us achieve more comprehensive research on fisheries.” According to Ichiro Nomura, Assistant Director General of the Fisheries Department at the FAO, “It is important to work with partners to address the fisheries issue – financial partners, civil society, and researchers. We look forward to full collaboration in attaining the goals of PROFISH.”
Fishing as a means of livelihood The livelihoods of about 150 million people rely on fisheries, aquaculture, and associated activities, and over 20 percent of the world’s 38 million full-time fishers earn less than $1 per day. The unfolding crisis will hit hardest in the very countries and communities that can least afford it – developing countries and poor fishing communities dependent on a declining resource. “Many fishers live in the world's poorest countries, where fisher communities are often marginalized and landless and fishing is the livelihood of last resort. Natural disasters and overfishing perpetuates a spiral into poverty for many of these fishers and communities dependent on fishing,” said Kevin Cleaver, Director for Agriculture and Rural Development, The World Bank. Demand Is Increasing… Fish is the most heavily traded food commodity and the fastest growing ‘agricultural’ commodity on international markets. In 2002, half of the US$58.2 billion world fish trade was from developing countries, exceeding the value of the combined net exports of rice, coffee, sugar, and tea. Globally, per capita consumption of fish products increased from 10.5 kg per year to over 16 kg per year over the past three decades. But production has failed to keep pace with population increase, and the total demand for fish products is expected to increase to 127.8 million metric tons in 2020. There are marked continental and geographical differences in consumption. Africa, for example, consumes 7.8 kg per capita compared to the global average of 16.3 kg. While rising fish prices contribute to economic development, this may be at the expense of the diet of the poor in countries where fish is the ‘staple’ animal protein.
Large, old female fish produce more fish ... but are the targets of fishers Old female fish are important to the fishery in that they contribute a large amount of eggs. For example, one 10 kilogram red snapper produces over 20 times more eggs at a single spawning than 10 one kilogram snappers. Researchers have also found that the eggs from older females produce larvae that grow faster and are more resistant to starvation than larvae from younger females. |
…But Supply Will Remain Tight “Global fisheries are one of the five global ecosystems in critical condition,” said Robert Watson, World Bank Chief Scientist and Co-Chair of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) Synthesis Report, the first global assessment of the state of the world’s ecosystems, which notes that a quarter of the world’s marine fish stocks are considered overexploited and half of the stocks are fully exploited with no scope for further increases in catches. In addition to the biological and ecological concerns, economic issues are of crucial importance. Inadequate control over expanding fleets and increasing fishing effort means that the cost of catching today’s fish is outpacing the value of the catch as ever more fishers compete for a declining resource. Subsidies as a barrier Fishing subsidies in the world’s rich countries are another reason why the world’s oceans have been over-harvested, leading to a drastic drop in fish stocks. According to the World Bank, global fisheries subsidies vary between $14 billion and $20 billion annually. “Over fishing is not only bad for the environment – it also leads to fewer jobs, can increase the cost of fish that the poor in many countries rely on for their primary source of protein, and can reduce an important revenue stream for developing countries,” added Evans. The PROFISH Partnership In addition to coastal developing countries, the PROFISH partnership involves Iceland, France, Norway and Finland, Japan, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the WorldFish Center, and the World Bank. |
For more information, please visit the following websites: www.worldbank.org/sustainabledevelopment www.worldbank.org/fish |
RSS