Challenges for world fish trade

Presented at International Fishery Congress, Vladivostok, 8-10 September 2009, by Helga Josupeit

It is with great pleasure that I deliver the greetings and congratulations from the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to this important meeting. Over the past years there have been many developments in the world of fish trade, which is the theme of this Fourth International Fishery Congress “Strategies for Sustainable Fishery Management and Maintaining Stable Fishery Markets”. This theme is very much in line with the work being carried out by the FAO Sub-Committee on Fish Trade of the Committee on Fisheries, the eleventh session of which was held in Bremen, Germany, last year.

Global fisheries continue to set new records. Production has risen to new levels thanks to aquaculture, which is fast approaching 50 percent in its contribution of fish for human consumption. World fish consumption has reached a new record of 17.4 kg per capita and trade is approaching US$100 billion. The EU, USA and Japan are the main fish importers, however, the importance of the Russian Federation as a fish importing country is growing impressively.

However, despite this good news, the big problems in fisheries remain largely the same, namely: ineffective mechanisms to manage capture fisheries; negative environmental effects of fishing and aquaculture; and IUU fishing. Considerable work is being done on many fronts to address these problems with positive results, inter alia in the Sub-Committee on Fish Trade.

Trade is not only dynamic, but also involves numerous actors and stakeholders, from the point of production all the way through to the final consumer. Its complexity is increasing, with more and more issues becoming linked to trade in one way or another. And in response to perceived consumer demands, retailers are setting new environmental goals and standards for their suppliers. One such example is ecolabels. The ecolabelling guidelines adopted by COFI in 2006 provide a reference point to ensure that ecolabelling schemes follow specific criteria.

Over the years, markets have developed new market access requirements relating to safety, quality and traceability. A relatively new development in this area has been the development of private standards. In addition, the World Trade Organization is important for ensuring fair fish trade, however the discussion seems to be dormant at present. As a reaction, more and more bilateral trade agreements, the so-called Free Trade Agreements have been negotiated, which also influence fish trade.

We thank the organizer for the kind invitation and wish this congress all possible success.

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