Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 193

THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 2018
BOX 29
SUPPORTING SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT AT THE REGIONAL AND SUBREGIONAL
LEVEL: THE EXAMPLE OF THE GENERAL FISHERIES COMMISSION FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN
2014) (Massa et al., 2017) and the conference
Towards Enhanced Cooperation on Black Sea
Fisheries and Aquaculture (Romania, 2016).
The General Fisheries Commission for the
Mediterranean is an RFMO established under the
provisions of Article XIV of the FAO Constitution.
Currently comprising 24 contracting parties (23
Member Countries and the European Union) and 3
cooperating non-contracting parties from the
Mediterranean and the Black Sea, GFCM covers FAO
major fishing area 37 (see FAO, 2017ab). GFCM has
competence over fisheries and aquaculture, with the
mandate to “ensure the conservation and sustainable
use, at the biological, social, economic and
environmental level, of living marine resources as well
as the sustainable development of aquaculture in the
Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea”.
GFCM plays a crucial role in fisheries and
aquaculture governance in the region by bringing its
Members together to develop and implement
strategies and policies, ensuring that activities are
managed in line with the Code of Conduct for
Responsible Fisheries.
Recognizing the growing importance of the
aquaculture sector in the region, GFCM has been
working for several years towards creating an enabling
framework for sustainable aquaculture development in
the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, particularly
through its Scientific Advisory Committee on
Aquaculture (Cataudella, Srour and Ferri, 2017). The
commission has made great strides in promoting
consultation, cooperation and stakeholder
participation, through, for example:
„ „ the aquaculture multi-stakeholder platform,
established in 2013, which addresses key
priorities;
„ „ the organization of high-level events such as the
regional conference Blue Growth in the
Mediterranean and the Black Sea: Developing
Sustainable Aquaculture for Food Security (Italy,
Recently, reflection on how to facilitate aquaculture
development while addressing regional and local
specificities has led to a strategy for the sustainable
development of Mediterranean and Black Sea
aquaculture (FAO, 2017ac). Adopted at the forty-first
session of GFCM (Montenegro, October 2017), this
strategy is the fruit of an extensive consultative process
involving experts and national focal points and
considers good practices and lessons learned in
addressing regional aquaculture challenges and
priorities. The aquaculture strategy is structured around
three main targets addressing key transboundary
vulnerabilities and cross-cutting issues, in line with
SDG 14 and FAO Strategic Objective 2 (“Make
agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and
sustainable”):
„ „ target 1, Build an efficient regulatory and
administrative framework to secure sustainable
aquaculture growth;
„ „ target 2, Enhance interactions between
aquaculture and the environment while ensuring
animal health and welfare;
„ „ target 3, Facilitate market-oriented aquaculture
and enhance public perception.
The work carried out in the preparation and
development of the GFCM aquaculture strategy
provides a clear example of regional cooperation to
address country-level critical issues. Working in
coordination with a regional network of partners and
stakeholders and accounting for national and
supranational aquaculture strategies are keys to
fulfilling global commitments.
aquaculture activities in developing countries,
especially in areas where aquaculture is key for
socio-economic development. For example,
aquafarming of crustaceans, especially shrimp,
has a major role in Asia and the Pacific, but
Threats to aquaculture, such as transboundar y
diseases and other aspects of animal health, are
among the critical issues requiring attention and
collaborative action by RFBs and RFMOs. These
threats have particular consequences for
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