The Committee on Fisheries (COFI) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), adopted International Guidelines on Small-Scale Fisheries giving increasing recognition to small-scale fisheries as a principal contributor to poverty alleviation and food security.
This was adopted at the 31st session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) held in Rome on Tuesday.
M Ilango, Chairperson, National Fishworkers’ Forum (NFF), stated the Guidelines, which will be voluntary, focus on the needs of developing countries, and are relevant to small-scale fisheries in marine and inland waters, covering fishing as well as related post-harvest and upstream activities.
They will be in support of national, regional and international initiatives for poverty alleviation and equitable social and economic development, and for improving governance of fisheries and promoting sustainable resource utilization. Their objective is to provide advice and recommendations, establish principles and criteria, and information to assist States and stakeholders to achieve secure and sustainable small-scale fisheries and related livelihoods.
The Committee on Fisheries (COFI), a subsidiary body of the FAO Council, was established by the FAO Conference at its 13th Session in 1965.
The Committee presently constitutes the only global inter-governmental forum where major international fisheries and aquaculture problems and issues are examined and recommendations addressed to governments, regional fishery bodies, NGOs, fish workers, FAO and international community, periodically on a world-wide basis.
The guidelines opened for discussion at 10.15am Italian time in Rome and were adopted at 10.22am, Ilango added.
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