Report Of The Global Conference On Aquaculture 20 Aquaculture For Food And Sustainable Development

Feeding an expected global population of 9 billion by 2050 is a daunting challenge that is engaging hundreds of millions of farmers, food processors, traders, researchers, technical experts, and leaders the world over. Fish and other aquatic products from aquaculture can and will play a major role in meeting the dietary demands of all people, while also meeting the food security needs of the poorest. To realize the maximum contributions of the aquaculture sector toward achieving the targets set by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2030, coordinated and accelerated actions are required. Not only must these actions increase sustainable production, but also address the broader value chain, markets, and decent employment. Recognizing the critical importance of aquaculture, and the need to exchange and discuss reliable information to further enhance its contribution to sustainable development, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), at the request of its Members, collaborated with the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, to organize the Global Conference on Aquaculture Millennium +20 (GCA +20), 22–25 September 2021, in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. Under the theme “Aquaculture for food and sustainable development”, the GCA +20 aimed to bring stakeholders from government, business, academia, and civil society together to identify the policy and technology innovations, investment opportunities and fruitful areas of cooperation in aquaculture for food and sustainable development. A key output from the GCA +20 – the Shanghai Declaration on Aquaculture for Food and Sustainable Development – highlights the principles and strategic pathways to maximize sustainable aquaculture in achieving the SDGs, with a special focus on “Leaving no one behind”.

The Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium was held for the purpose of developing a strategy for aquaculture development in the next 20 years. It was a sequel to the Kyoto Conference on Aquaculture, which was organized by FAO in May-June 1976. This report of the Bangkok Conference on Aquaculture, the second publication arising from the Millennium Conference, includes the detailed recommendations of the 14 thematic conference sessions. The third publication will be the technical proceedings of the Bangkok Conference (available from NACA - see http: //www.enaca.org/).

This Expert Workshop was convened to identify and review the key issues of climate change in relation to fisheries and aquaculture, from the physical changes, the impacts of those on aquatic resources and ecosystems and how these ecological impacts translate into human dimensions of coping and adapting within fisheries and aquaculture. Three comprehensive background documents formed the basis of the technical discussions. The Workshop also evaluated policy options and activities at the international, regional and national levels that can help minimize negative impacts of climate change, improve on mitigation and prevention, and maintain and build adaptive capacity to climate change. The impetus for the Workshop emerged from recommendations of the twenty-seventh session of COFI (2007) as well as to the need to provide inputs into the FAO High-Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy, held in Rome from 3 to 5 June 2008.

This report explores the alignment of aquaculture with the 2030 agenda's goals and targets, suggesting that existing guidance needs strengthening in cross-cutting areas - such as poverty alleviation and resource use efficiency.

The Global Conference on Aquaculture 2010 brought together a wide range of experts and important stakeholders and reviewed the present status and trends in aquaculture development, evaluated the progress made in the implementation of the 2000 Bangkok Declaration and Strategy, addressed emerging issues relevant to aquaculture development, assessed opportunities and challenges for future aquaculture development and built consensus on advancing aquaculture as a global, sustainable and competitive food production sector. This volume, yet another joint effort of FAO and NACA, brings the outcome of the Global Conference on Aquaculture 2010, the much-needed clear and comprehensive technical information on how aquaculture could be mobilized to alleviate global poverty and improve food and nutrition security in the coming decades.

The 2020 edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture has a particular focus on sustainability. This reflects a number of specific considerations. First, 2020 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (the Code). Second, several Sustainable Development Goal indicators mature in 2020. Third, FAO hosted the International Symposium on Fisheries Sustainability in late 2019, and fourth, 2020 sees the finalization of specific FAO guidelines on sustainable aquaculture growth, and on social sustainability along value chains. While Part 1 retains the format of previous editions, the structure of the rest of the publication has been revised. Part 2 opens with a special section marking the twenty fifth anniversary of the Code. It also focuses on issues coming to the fore, in particular, those related to Sustainable Development Goal 14 and its indicators for which FAO is the “custodian” agency. In addition, Part 2 covers various aspects of fisheries and aquaculture sustainability. The topics discussed range widely, from data and information systems to ocean pollution, product legality, user rights and climate change adaptation. Part 3 now forms the final part of the publication, covering projections and emerging issues such as new technologies and aquaculture biosecurity. It concludes by outlining steps towards a new vision for capture fisheries. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture aims to provide objective, reliable and up-to-date information to a wide audience – policymakers, managers, scientists, stakeholders and indeed everyone interested in the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

The Thirty-fourth Session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) was held in Rome, Italy, from 1 to 5 February 2021. This is a report of the Session reflecting the discussions which took place and containing all recommendations and decisions taken by the Committee. A synopsis of the outcome of the Session is presented in the abstract and all supplementary information is included in the appendixes.

Keith Culver and David Castle Introduction Aquaculture is at the leading edge of a surprisingly polarized debate about the way we produce our food. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, aquaculture production has increased 8. 8% per year since 1970, far surpassing productivity gains in terrestrial meat production at 2. 8% in the same period (FAO 2007). Like the ‘green revolution’ before it, the ‘blue revolution’ in aquaculture promises rapidly increased productivity through technology-driven - tensi?cation of aquaculture animal and plant production (Costa-Pierce 2002; The Economist 2003). Proponents of further aquaculture development emphasize aq- culture’s ancient origins and potential to contribute to global food security d- ing an unprecedented collapse in global ?sheries (World Fish Center; Meyers and Worm 2003; Worm et al. 2006). For them, technology-driven intensi?cation is an - dinary and unremarkable extension of past practice. Opponents counter with images of marine and freshwater environments devastated by intensive aquaculture pr- tices producing unsustainable and unhealthy food products. They view the promised revolutionasascam,nothingmorethanclever marketingbypro?t-hungry ?shfa- ers looking for ways to distract the public from the real harms done by aquaculture. The stark contrast between proponents and opponents of modern aquaculture recalls decades of disputes about intensive terrestrial plant and animal agriculture, disputes whose vigor shows that the debate is about much more than food production (Ruse and Castle 2002).