To formulate and recommend measures and to initiate and carry out programmes or projects to:
(i) increase the efficiency and sustainable productivity of fisheries and aquaculture
(ii) conserve and manage resources
(iii) protect resources from pollution
to keep under review the economic and social aspects of fishing and aquaculture industries and recommend measures aimed at improving the living and working conditions of fishermen and other workers in these industries and otherwise at improving the contribution of each fishery to social and economic goals

* IUU flagged for the first time in FAO’s COFI 1999
* Expressly an illegal activity or an activity undertaken with little regard for applicable standards
* Applies to capture fisheries conducted within areas under national jurisdiction or the high seas
* Illegal fishing activities, unreported fishing activities and unregulated fishing activities that involve fishing, transport and support vessels within the jurisdiction of the coastal State, flag State, port State and the market State as well as within the jurisdiction of regional fisheries bodies
*IUU fishing poses a threat to the effective conservation and management of many fish stocks with adverse consequences for livelihoods and food security
*Restrictions on the harvest of juvenile fish are not respected; gear restrictions and basic safety requirements are violated; fundamental rights of fishers in relation to wages, safety standards and living and working conditions are denied
*IUU fishers are “free riders” who benefit from the sacrifices of legitimate fishers
(FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries 9 on Implementation of the IPOA-IUU...

Among all activities dependent on the oceans for a livelihood, small-scale fisheries is the most important—much more than tourism, shipping, oil and gas, and mining

15% of people in capture fishing and 90% in fish processing activities are women (SOFIA 2016)

37.9 million marine and inland fishers in 2014 (after peaking at 39.4 million in 2012)—of which 30 million fishers are in Asia (nearly 80%)

19 million fishers work on board fishing vessels (50%)

Overall employment in the sector decreased

The slight decrease in employment appears to signal a stabilization in engagement in the sector (SOFIA 2016)...

* Third largest ocean in the world and provides the earliest evidence of human adaptation to the marine environment
* After the Pacific, it accounts for the largest number of commercial marine species and the largest share of full time fishers’ population in the world
* It has the largest small-scale, artisanal fisheries in the world that providing employment, income and food security to millions of men and women and their families and communities...

Ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Brundtland Commission Report (1987)
Poverty eradication is an indispensable requirement for sustainable development
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992)
Integrating economic, social and environmental aspects and their linkages are necessary to mainstream sustainable development at all levels
Rio+20 Outcome Document (2012)...

FAO estimates that about 35–36 percent of total world fish production of 172.2 million tonnes in 2016 (about 62 million tonnes in live-weight equivalent) was exported at a value of US$143 billion
Aquaculture exports are estimated to contribute 27 to 29 percent of volume (about 18 million tonnes) and 36 to 38 per cent of value (about US$54.34 million)
The contribution of wild capture fisheries production to total exports would be 44 million tonnes at a value of US$89 billion (FAO Sub Committee on Trade, 2017)...