Globalisation and Fisheries - Publishing Oecd Publishing

Globalisation is a key feature of today's fisheries industry, where fish caught or farmed in one region may be processed in a second and consumed in a third. At the same time, many valuable species are endangered by overfishing, and while aquaculture can remedy this to some extent, it also raises new issues. Sustainable, responsible management of fisheries and aquaculture is thus vital. Resource sustainability is increasingly coming to the forefront of both public concerns and the policy debate for two principal reasons: consumers demand it and shareholders and investors insist on it if they are to invest money in the sector. Pressure on policy makers from various stakeholder communities to ensure that management is sustainable is likely to continue. What may still be lacking is political will to implement difficult fisheries policy reform that can ensure sustainable and responsible production. The OECD's Committee for Fisheries and the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department co-hosted a Workshop on the Challenges and Opportunities of Fisheries Globalisation in April 2007. The purpose was to better understand the process of fisheries globalisation and to highlight the key risks and opportunities that policy makers need to address so that, on the one hand, the opportunities that are created are not missed while, on the other, the risks are addressed appropriately. This publication presents a wide range of experiences and points of view from every part of the value chain of the fisheries industry, including fishers, processors, consumers, NGOs, restaurant and retail chains, as well as government and academic experts.