Forum: Issue: Student Officer: Position: Environment Committee Managing capture fishing and aquaculture activities in South-East Asia and Oceania Ceylan Ersoy and İdil Naz Tandoğan President and Deputy President Introduction Fishing is an extremely crucial aspect of livelihood and business, and has been experiencing an immense increase in demand. In his book The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat, Charles Clover, a journalist and an environment editor, states that The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is simply observing that fish farming is the fastest growing form of food production in the world--growing at 9 percent a year and by 12-13 percent in the United States. Despite its various economic advantages, aquaculture can turn into the next big problem of the world, especially in an environmental aspect. For example, aquaculture and capture fishing can cause water pollution, especially when water with diseased organisms and polluting chemicals flow out of an aquaculture facility. This may also happen when the fish escape from the facility, which may result in widespread and devastating consequences. Such issues might be harmful to the neighboring countries located around the facility as well. Our world is moving towards a situation where there will be an excess demand for food products and similar necessities while there will be lack of resources. It is highly critical to consider and manage capture fishing and aquaculture activities in especially South and East Asia and Oceania in that sense. Moving towards a multipolar world creates a need for industry management and regulation, policy development and taking initiatives. It is unquestionable that our world population is in need of fishing and aquaculture industries given the immense unemployment rates. However, countries and workers should carry out their activities in especially South-East Asia and Oceania, where these activities are extremely widespread, and are done in an eco-friendly and sustainable manner. Definition of Key Terms Trawler: A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel that performs to operate fishing trawls or nets. The nets are released to great depths and are then pulled back simultaneously.
Commercial fishing: Commercial fishers try to catch any and all aquatic species for commercial purposes. This process involves adverse weather conditions and requires fishers to go fishing in great depths. Sustainable fishing: This term evolved after events such as overfishing, marine pollution, bycatching and similar environmental defections started occurring. It involves marine conservation and aims to make adjustments according to environmental concerns. Aquaculture industry: Aquaculture industry involves rearing of aquatic animals or simply the cultivation of aquatic animals for food production. General Overview Fishing and aquaculture are critical professions that exist since the beginning of humanity. Mankind has been working in both fishing and aquaculture industries, for more than 10,000 years. Besides being a good source of livelihood they both play a huge role in human history and the social and economic change process in our world. Just like many other regions in the world, both Southeast Asia and Oceania s economy mainly depend on fishing and aquaculture. Aquaculture is a widely known and used method of acquiring fish sources and is considered to be fish farming. According to the FAO, aquaculture "is understood to mean the farming of aquatic organisms including fish, mollusks, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Farming implies some form of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding, protection from predators, etc. Farming also implies individual or corporate ownership of the stock being cultivated." Currently, the Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific (NACA) is carrying out activities in order to promote sustainable aquaculture. The project, Aquaculture for Food Security, Poverty Alleviation and Nutrition (AFSPAN) mainly aims to strengthen the knowledge base and develop new and more rigorous methodologies of quantifying the contribution of aquaculture to combat hunger and poverty. Hence, the network is creating strategies, policy changes and research programs in order to promote the sustainable expansion of aqua culture activity and increase its productivity and impact on food and nutritious necessities. These activities will also be vital for poverty alleviation. Furthermore at least 31 million people are engaged in the fisheries sector in the Asia- Pacific region. The region produced 41.6 million tons of fishery products in the previous years. 44 percent of the total world fishery production comes from the Asian-Pacific region. Some of the major producers in the region are India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. Although fishing provides a great contribution to the region, these professions still need development. Even though there has been a significant increase since 1970 s in fishery since the end of the Second World War, new actions should be taken. Asian Pacific region showed annual growth rate of 9.2% between the years 2010 and 2014. Also the fishery trend of import value increased from 8,700 million US dollars in 1986 to 23,579 million US dollars in 1996. This development shown in this process should be
continued. Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) and FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific should keep working on the topic effectively. Major Parties Involved and Their Views China China has been the largest fish producer in the world for the last thirteen years, producing one third of the reported fish and accounting for two thirds of world s aquaculture products. It is the number one fish exporter, and the 6 th fish importer in the world. Therefore, it is clear that fishing is an important industry in China. China s aquaculture harvest is ten times greater than of the nearest country. A fishing and aquaculture industry as large as this have major effects on the environment. China farms about 30 million tons of fish and other sea creatures annually. India India is the second largest fish supplier in the world. The fishing industry does not only provide a prevalent form of nutrition, it is also important for the fact that it holds over 14 million employees. Each year 4 million fish are captured in catch fishing, and another 4 million are harvested by aquacultural activities. With numerous ponds, lakes, and rivers, and a coastal line longer than 8,000 kilometers, fishing has become one of the major incomes for the country and the habitants. Indonesia Indonesia commonly practices aquaculture with its main harvest being shrimp; they produce nearly 50,000 tons of shrimp annually, which accounts for almost 10% of the world s total production. In many of the ponds, aquaculture is practiced which creates more food supply. New Zealand New Zealand, which is surrounded by the ocean, is a state with a large fishing industry. Aquaculture has peeked onwards from 1980 with the new developing techniques to harvest fish and other sea creatures. The main harvests and exports of New Zealand are mussels, oysters and salmon. Aquaculture and fishing date back to pre-colonization times; the ingenious Maori population started the practise of aquaculture, meaning it has traditional and cultural value. South Korea With per capita sea food consumption about 50 kilograms, South Korea s aquaculture and fishing activities are more to supply the nutritional demand of their population rather than international trade or exportation. The harvest is mainly comprised of seaweed, mollusks, shellfish, and finfish in accordance with the public taste. In 1960s South Korea started adapting modern fishing and aquaculture techniques, intensifying their production.
Australia Aquaculture is the fastest growing industry in Australia, providing food and employment for many. As an island country, Australia relies on the fishing industry heavily. They produce nearly 250,000 tons of fish each year, and aquaculture activities account for 33% of this production. Timeline of Events 2000BC Fishing practices started. 1496 Recreational fishing was introduced. 1771 March, 1875 1877 2000 The commercial fishing industry was introduced. David Allan designed the earliest purpose built fishing vessels in Scotland by converting drifter to steam power. David Allan built the first screw propelled stream trawler, thereby achieving a milestone in fishing industry. The FAO released the Code of Conduct for Responsible fisheries. 24 28 May 2014 The Resumed Review Conference on the Agreement Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks took place. UN Involvement This is an issue United Nations is highly involved with. In 1995, United Nations established an agreement called the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement with the aim of combatting illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; regulating the fisheries, and the fish stocks to keep them in equilibrium to prevent decrease in fish numbers; and to create an international framework regarding fishing methods. This agreement has challenged many states, and because its implementations were nonbinding, it unfortunately couldn t accomplish the goals set by the agreement. However, it has been a solid effort to create an international understanding of the fishing ethics, and the environmental impacts that illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing have.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is an agency which is also involved. It published a green economy report on fisheries and aquaculture to encourage the establishment of environmentally friendly and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture which are also economically beneficial. In the report, current states of aquaculture and fisheries are discussed, economic and environmental contexts are given, and measures to create sustainable fish production are deliberated. This report may help the states change their fisheries with the modern technology to increase the environmental sustainability without losing financial benefits. FAO s involvement is undeniable regarding aquaculture. FAO strongly supports aquaculture, and believes that it will help eradicate world hunger, for it increases the food security by providing nutrition for many. FAO has implemented a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which is not mandatory, to promote environmentally sustainable aquaculture, especially in developing countries. While it is a valiant effort, the conduct is based on voluntarily principle, and many states don t follow it for that cause. Relevant UN Documents International Plan to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing, FAO, 2001 Green Economy and Trade: Fisheries and Aquaculture, UNEP, 2013 Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, FAO, 2000 Sustainable Contributions of Fisheries to Food Security, FAO, 2000 Fish Stocks Agreement, United Nations, 1995 Evaluation of Previous Attempts to Resolve the Issue While the states which have a large fishing industry and aquaculture harvest have been occupied with the economic side of the fisheries and aquaculture, UN has been the main party which attempted to solve this issue and establish sustainability on the area. UN and its agencies UNEP and FAO, established agreements to eliminate illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, published reports to promote both environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture and fishing industry, tried to create an international framework regarding fishing and aquaculture methods, encouraged states to use technology for better yield and less environmental impact. However, they were all non-binding and weren t followed by any negative or positive enforcement. Therefore, the states didn t put an effort to change their already economically beneficial methods, thus the valiant attempt put forth by the United Nations couldn t be successful. Possible Solutions
Aquaculture, and fishing industry are highly important in South-East Asia and Oceania for it is a source of nourishment for many who would be in hunger otherwise, and is also a source of income for a significant portion of the population. Therefore, ways to continue the practise in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner should be found. The effort UN made should be validated by establishing positive enforcement for states which implement the solutions set by the UN. Furthermore, an international summit can be held in order to create an international framework regarding fisheries. Campaigns and projects can be created, seminars can be held, treaties and agreements can be ratified.research teams consisting of marine biologists, aquaculture engineers, and other specialists can be formed to find new techniques of fishing and aquaculture to create sustainability. Quotas can be implemented to prevent overharvest, and consequently the destruction of marine flora irreversibly. If sustainable aquaculture is reached, it can diminish the world hunger significantly; therefore, it is critical to find feasible solutions to this issue. Bibliography "Agreement for Fish Stocks: A/CONF.164/37." United Nations. UN, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. <http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/fish_stocks_agree ment/conf164_37.htm>. "Fact Sheet: Aquaculture in China and Asia." (n.d.): n. pag. Food and Agriculture Organization. Web. 7 Mar. 2015. "FAO. Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries." FAO. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. <http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/v9878e/v9878e00.htm>. "Fisheries & Aquaculture - Science and Governance." FAO. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. <http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/3016/en>. "INTERNATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION TO PREVENT, DETER AND ELIMINATE ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED AND UNREGULATED FISHING." Food and Agriculture Organization. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. <http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/y1224e/y1224e00.htm>. "National Aquaculture Sector Overview : Australia." FAO. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. <http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector/naso_australia/en>.
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