Brussels, 28/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - Illegal fishing, climate change and piracy do not mix well with the objective of sustainable fisheries. The EU's ACP group of states (Africa/Caribbean/Pacific) partner countries underlined this message during a ministerial meeting in Brussels on 23 July.
At a time when sustainable development is on everybody's lips, ministers for fisheries and aquaculture in ACP countries called on the EU and the international community to help guarantee the sustainability of their valuable fish resources and help boost wealth creation in ACP countries.
More than 60 ACP countries export fish and aquaculture products to the international markets, even though these exports only account for 3% of the value of the international fish trade, which stands at US $150 billion a year.
The 4th meeting of ACP ministers for fisheries and aquaculture managed to conclude with the conclusion of an action plan to relaunch the economies of ACP countries through sustainable management of fishing and aquaculture. This roadmap calls for the mobilisation of adequate financial resources and close collaboration with partner institutions, which provide support to ACP fisheries sector, among them the EU, FAO, IFAD, UNIDO and the World Bank.
Given the negative impact of climate change on the fisheries sector, ACP Ministers called specifically on the international community to agree to outline concrete, ambitious actions to reduce the effects of climate change.
In light of the persistence of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and piracy, the ACP ministers also urged the international community to cooperate more closely with ACP countries and to provide financial and technical support for the efforts made at the national and regional level, to curb and eradicate these two extremely serious problems.
This is the strong message addressed to the EU and international community upstream of the UN Summit in New York (25-27 September), which is expected to adopt the global post-2015 programme for eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable development, as well as the Paris conference in four months time (COP21, 30 November-11 December), where the universal and legally binding Climate Treaty is due to be adopted.
The ministerial ACP meeting focused on implementation of the strategic action plan on fisheries and aquaculture adopted in 2012 in Nadi (Fiji). (Aminata Niang)