THAILAND: Convened in Bangkok, Thailand, on 28 February 2023, the closing ceremony of the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA) 2022 for Asia brought together representatives from governments, small-scale aquatic food producers, academia, and several non- and inter-governmental organisations, who had been actively campaigning for IYAFA 2022 for the past one year. This closing ceremony was jointly organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Too Big To Ignore (TBTI) and INFOFISH; and hosted by the Department of Fisheries Thailand.
The event was inaugurated by Mr. Chalermchai Suwannarak, the Director-General of the Department of Fisheries, Thailand. In his speech, he highlighted Thailand’s efforts in assisting and supporting the artisanal fisheries and aquaculture sector through five (5) approaches: the development of National Plans; the approval of policies encouraging Thai fisher groups to work together to protect the aquatic animal resources that they rely on; the empowerment of artisanal fishers to establish local fishing communities; the establishment of Fisherman Shops in over 77 provinces; and the promotion of the implementation of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries.
Under the “IYAFA highlights and sharing commitments in support of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture” session, Mr Suwannarak shared activities carried out in celebrating IYAFA 2022 as well as to follow-up and secure small-scale fisheries and aquaculture in Thailand. This was followed by speeches from the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC); Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA); International Collective in Support of Fishworks (ICSF); Ocean University of Sri Lanka; Sri Lanka Forum for Small Scale Fisheries (SLFSSF), INFOFISH and TBTI Global Foundation, TBTI Japan and TBTI Philippines. Representatives gave assurances of their commitments, visions and plans for the future in support of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture.
The ceremony was further enlivened with the presentation of a video by China Blue, with the title “Bring fish to the table, bring fisher home”.
The closing remarks were delivered by Simon Funge-Smith, Senior Fishery Officer, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. He highlighted the importance of artisanal fisheries and aquaculture in Asia and the need to increase their visibility, and said it is critical to involve SSF stakeholders in decisionmaking regarding management of their resources and use of marine and aquatic spaces. He added that it was important to build support for the Asia Regional Advisory Group (RAG) for small-scale fisheries. Among the other key points raised were that secure tenure and responsible governance are critical for small-scale fisheries and aquaculture; the need to promote fishery management approaches which is sensitive to the needs of small-scale fisheries; the need to support access by small-scale fisheries and aquaculture to markets; promotion of decent work, safety and operations in smallscale fisheries and aquaculture; building capacity in smallscale fisheries and aquaculture communities; and enhancing social protection for vulnerable small-scale fisheries and small-scale aquaculture households.
In closing, Simon Funge-Smith underlined that 2024 will be the 10-year anniversary of the adoption of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Small-Scale Fisheries, and the 2022 FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure.
The implementation of these FAO Guidelines will address many vital issues and contribute towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Source: INFOFISH International Issue 2/2023