12 October 2015: The eighth session of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN’s (FAO) Committee on Fisheries (COFI) Sub-Committee on Aquaculture adopted a report with recommendations for global aquaculture development. Among its decisions, the Sub-Committee agreed on its future priorities in line with FAO’s Blue Growth Initiative and FAO’s Strategic Objectives, supported the development of guidelines on aquaculture certification, and emphasized aquaculture as critical for food and nutrition security and poverty alleviation.

Over 100 delegates from 50 countries, representing the majority of aquaculture producers worldwide, attended the Sub-Committee meeting, which convened in Brasilia, Brazil from 5-9 October 2015. Brazilian Chairperson Rodrigo Roubach said the meeting aimed “to harmonize actions towards more sustainable and responsible world aquaculture.”

Delegates stressed the role of aquaculture in alleviating poverty and ensuring food and nutrition security, including at a special event that shared national experiences. In an opening address, Jiansan Jia, FAO, said world aquaculture produces more than 43% of fish consumed globally, generates millions of jobs and had an estimated value of US$157 billion in 2013. He highlighted the Code of Conduct on Responsible Fisheries, which celebrated its 20th anniversary during the meeting, as critical in helping countries ensure food security for growing populations.

On certification, the Sub-Committee supported the role of FAO in developing Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification and an evaluation framework to assess the conformity of aquaculture certification schemes with the guidelines. Delegates also suggested addressing decent employment as part of the guidelines.

On Blue Growth, the Sub-Committee recognized the positive effects of aquaculture on the environment through activities such as seaweed and shellfish farming. It recommended increasing the number of participating countries in Blue Growth pilot initiatives.

The Sub-Committee also supported improving the collection of aquaculture data and statistics, including integration of the State of the World report on Aquatic Genetic Resources into FAO’s fisheries and aquaculture information systems.

The Ninth Meeting of the Sub-Committee will take place in Iran in 2017. [FAO Press Release, 12 October] [FAO Press Release, 5 October] [IISD RS Story on Code of Conduct Anniversary]