Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 169
THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 2018
The bivalve mollusc production industry has
grown, from nearly 1 million tonnes in 1950 to
16.1 million tonnes in 2015. In view of this rapid
growth, together with changes in water
conditions, FAO and WHO (2018) have produced
technical guidance for the development of bivalve
mollusc sanitation programmes, as requested by
the 2017 International Conference on Molluscan
Shellfish Safety. This guidance is mainly intended
for primary production of bivalves for
consumption live or raw, and primarily considers
general requirements and microbiological hazards.
feasibilit y of a single repositor y of loss scenarios
and loss reduction options to inform the
development of solutions to food loss scenarios
at targeted points of the supply chain in fisheries
and aquaculture.
Consumer protection
Fisheries’ contribution to food securit y and
public health can be compromised when food
safet y is not well understood and controlled
throughout the fisheries and aquaculture
supply chains. Given the growing complexit y
of these chains (due to factors such as
increased value addition demands, climate
change impacts and trade globalization),
internationally recognized frameworks for
ensuring food safet y in the international
context are extremely important. In the
fisheries sector, these include Article 11 of the
FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible
Fisheries, g uiding post-har vest practices and
trade; the Codex Alimentarius standards and
codes of practice (w w w.fao.org/fao-who-
codexalimentarius/standards); and the W TO
Agreements on the Application of Sanitar y and
Phytosanitar y Measures and Technical Barriers
to Trade, which set out the basic rules for food
safet y standards. In support of food safet y,
FAO provides scientific advice jointly with
W HO through established expert committees,
expert meetings and ad hoc consultations.
In food safet y management, FAO has worked
closely in the past two years with key partners
such as UNEP, the Joint Group of Experts on the
Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental
Protection (GESA MP) 18 and academics in a global
response to the possible food safet y threat of
microplastics and nanoplastics in fish and fish
products (see “Selected ocean pollution
concerns”, below), providing a set of
recommendations and listing research needs
(Lusher, Hollman and Mendoza-Hill, 2017).
Over 50 percent of fisher y production for food
comes from aquaculture, and some food safet y
and public health issues are specific to this
sector. Misuse of antimicrobials in many parts of
the world is recognized as the key driver of the
emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance
(A MR). A MR currently causes around 700 000
global deaths annually, and the number could
reach 10 million by 2050 (O’Neill, 2014). FAO is
working closely with the World Organization for
Animal Health (OIE) and W HO in a tripartite
response to the global threat of A MR (FAO, OIE
and W HO, 2010). The Codex Alimentarius
Commission (2017) has recently updated
maximum residue limits and risk management
recommendations for residues of veterinar y drugs
in foods.
Owing to concerns about the impact of climate
change, Codex committees have given special
importance to the evaluation of toxins in recent
years. In response to a request from Codex for
scientific advice on this topic, FAO and W HO
(2016) jointly produced the technical paper
Toxicity equivalence factors for marine biotoxins
associated with bivalve molluscs.
Ciguatoxin causes between 10 000 and 50 000
food-borne illnesses annually (Lehane, 2000). As
requested by the Codex Committee on
Contaminants in Foods, FAO and WHO are
currently planning a risk assessment of
ciguatoxins, with a view to establishing a
maximum permissible level for the toxin and
agreeing on standard analytical methods for
ciguatoxin detection and quantification, to provide
the basis for routine analysis and surveillance.
At the national level, FAO’s multidisciplinar y
teams provide technical support to governments
in developing effective national food safet y
frameworks. Due consideration is given to
18 GESAMP sponsors are IMO, FAO, UNESCO-IOC, the United
Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO), the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), the United Nations, UNEP and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP).
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