Sustainable Contribution of Fisheries to Food Security
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RAP Publication: 2000/23 SUSTAINABLE CONTRIBUTION OF FISHERIES TO FOOD SECURITY Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific December 2000 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors alone and do not imply any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO. NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT The copyright in this publication is vested in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, by any method or process, without written permission from the copyright holder. Applications for such permission with a statement of the purpose and extent of the reproduction desired should be made through and addressed to the Senior Fishery Officer, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Maliwan Mansion, Phra Athit Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand. FAO 2000 ii PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT This document was prepared by the Fisheries Department Group (RAPI), in cooperation with the Policy Assistance Branch (RAPP) of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO/RAP), under UNDP RAS/95/01T: Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Asia and the Pacific: Issues and Challenges. D.B. Antiporta and S.L. Kang of RAPP provided the overall technical supervision of this activity. Four technical reports concerning poverty alleviation and food security in Asia and the role of land resources, livestock, forestry have been issued by FAO/RAP in 1999 as RAP Publications No. 1999/1 to 5. This report covers the role of fisheries for food security in the Asia Pacific region. The contributions made by national/regional experts are gratefully acknowledged. The report was edited by Mrs Leigh R. Kambhu and Mrs Charlotte M. Menasveta. The cover and contents were designed by Great Idea Co. Ltd., Thailand, and the manuscript was prepared by Ms Kesara Aotarayakul. iii PREFACE Ninety-five States participated at the International Conference on the Sustainable Contribution of Fisheries to Food Security, hosted by the Government of Japan in cooperation with FAO at Kyoto, 4 to 9 December 1995. The conference noted a continuously growing world population and the need to secure enough food for the people in present and future generations as well as the significant contribution of fisheries to income, wealth and food security for all people especially those in low-income, food-deficit countries (LIFDCs). It also noted the FAO projection that demand for fish will increase faster than supply in the next decade and beyond. The estimated demand in 2010 was about 110-120 million tons against the estimated supplies from all sources of only 73-108 million tons. The conference adopted the Kyoto Declaration and Plan of Action on the Sustainable Contribution of Fisheries to Food Security, especially to address the supply issues in a sustainable manner. The Kyoto Declaration recognized that the projected shortfall of supply of fish and fishery products by 2010 could substantially be reduced and the marine and inland waters maintained as a sustainable source of renewable food resources if a combination of measures is taken. The Declaration called for actions in conserving and managing fishery resources and fisheries as well as immediate actions to be taken by States, inter alia, for effective implementation of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, strengthening scientific research for sustainable development of fisheries and aquaculture, assessing the stock productivity and adjusting the fishing capacity to a level commensurate with long-term stock productivity, and increasing the available supply of fish and fishery products for human consumption, nationally and internationally. The urgent need to ensure food security was further emphasized at the World Food Summit, organized by FAO in the following year, Rome, November 1996. The Rome Declaration on World Food Security stressed the importance of sustainable management of natural resources and the elimination of unsustainable patterns of consumption and production. The Plan of Action adopted by the Summit recognized degradation of land and aquatic-based natural resources and the need to restore and rehabilitate these resources in depleted and overexploited areas to achieve greater production. The plan of action therefore called for all States to collaborate to achieve sustainable world food security and availability of enough food for all. In the Asia-Pacific region, fisheries play a significant role for food security of people in all levels, both nationally and internationally. In 1998, capture fishery production from this region accounted for half of the world production. Moreover, aquaculture production continues to increase in the last two decades. The production from aquaculture in Asia- Pacific reached 88 percent of the world aquaculture production of fish and shellfish and 99 percent of seaweed production in 1998. To continue such trends into the new millennium, all States in the region were urged to give due attention to the current problems and constraints in managing their fishery resources and fisheries and to find ways and means to reverse the negative trends as already observed in some countries in the region in order to bridge the gaps in supplies and demand for fish and fishery products. iv The present study was carried out under the UNDP's RAS/95/01T project on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Asia and the Pacific: Issues and Challenges, which was implemented by the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific since 1998. Four technical reports have been issued so far, namely, Poverty Alleviation and Food Security in Asia: Issues and Challenges; Land Resources; Role of Livestock; and Enhancing Forestry and Agroforestry Contributions. This fifth report reviews the sustainable contribution of fisheries in East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Oceania by experts from each subregion. It is our sincere hope that the Member States as well as the Non- members and other regional fisheries bodies would seriously consider the current situation, the envisaged gaps in production and demand and the options available to adjust fishery policies and practices in their countries or areas of competence to ensure long-term sustained contribution of fisheries and aquaculture from this region to food security to all. R.B. Singh Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific v CONTENTS Page • Preface iv • The sustainable contribution of fisheries to food security 1-28 in the Asia-Pacific region: regional synthesis M. Hotta • The sustainable contribution of fisheries to food security 29-48 in Japan M. Hotta • The sustainable contribution of fisheries to food security 49-77 in the Republic of Korea Yong-Ja Cho • The sustainable contribution of fisheries to food security 78-113 in China Song Zhiwen • The sustainable contribution of fisheries to food security 114-158 in Southeast Asia Deb Menasveta • The sustainable contribution of fisheries to food security 159-230 in the South Asian Subregion K. Sivasubramaniam • The sustainable contribution of fisheries to food security 231-293 in the Oceania Gillett, Preston and Associates, Inc. vi THE SUSTAINABLE CONTRIBUTION OF FISHERIES TO FOOD SECURITY IN THE ASIA AND PACIFIC REGION: REGIONAL SYNTHESIS by M. Hotta “No fish - no dinner …..” “Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and he can feed his family for ever …..” Old Chinese Proverbs 1. Introduction Since the World Food Conference of 1974, conditions of world food security have changed profoundly. Sustainable agricultural development, including the essential contribution of the fisheries sector, has become of utmost importance, both to ensure adequate supplies of food at affordable prices, and as the main source of economic and social progress for the rural poor. Food security is now dependent upon a set of circumstances that has political, social and economic dimensions at the national, regional and global levels. In recent years the international community, national governments and development agencies have been giving more and more attention to these issues. These initiatives culminated in the World Food Summit, held in Rome in November 1996. The special role of the fisheries sector in this regard was examined at the International Conference on the Sustainable Contribution of Fisheries to Food Security, organised by the Government of Japan in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and held in Kyoto in December 1995. More detailed consideration of these concerns has now devolved regionally and nationally, and includes the ongoing UNDS-supported Review of Food Security Issues and Challenges in the Asia and Pacific Region. The present paper is a contribution to the regional debate on these issues in so far as the role of fisheries is concerned. As illustrated simply but cogently by the above ancient proverbs from China, fisheries have from time immemorial played a very significant role in many countries and communities through the supply of food and the creation of employment and income. This is particularly the case in many developing countries where, on average, fish currently provide almost one-fifth of the total animal protein supply; in many parts of the Asia-Pacific region, the importance of fish to food supplies is even greater. The present paper undertakes a brief examination of the overall world food situation, with special reference to conditions in the Asia-Pacific region. The recent trends and present state of the fisheries sectors in the region are then discussed, in particular the marine, inland water and aquaculture activities in three main sub-regions.