Page 10 - FAO Aquaculture News, May 2021 - No. 63

Regional Consultations on the Development of Guidelines for

Sustainable Aquaculture (GSA) for Asia and Latin America

he Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture (GSA) 4) discuss potential regional case study concepts based
Twere requested by FAO Members at the ninth on regional priorities determined by them.
session of the Committee on Fisheries Sub-Committee
on Aquaculture (COFI/AQ), which was held in Rome in For more background information and the previous
October 2017. The aim of the GSA is to provide practical African regional consultation on GSA, see the articles in
guidance to government authorities and policymakers in FAN 61 and FAN 62.
their efforts to promote the implementation of the Code
of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) and to The process of regional consultations was preceded by a
engage and enable aquaculture to effectively participate global expert consultation in June 2019 which identified
in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable 72 thematic modules which could be selected as the core
Development. of the GSA. They will describe the rationale and attributes Global Aquaculture Updates
for approaches and practices on specific topics, the existing
The approach taken by FAO to develop GSA includes guidelines and the key recommendations for successful
extensive and inclusive consultations at global and implementation and capacity development.
regional levels as recommended by COFI/AQ Members
in 2019. As a series of regional consultations, the first The thematic modules include themes such as Sustainable
regional consultation on the development of GSA for aquaculture and the 2030 Agenda, Governing and planning
Africa held in Bamako, Mali from 29-30 November 2019. aquaculture development, Biodiversity and genetic
The second and third virtual regional consultations were resources, Better Management Practices in Aquaculture,
held in late November and December 2020 for Asia and Sustainable feed, Water management, Biosecurity, aquatic
Latin America. In succession, the fourth virtual regional animal health and animal well-being, Specific farming
consultation for the Caribbean and Pacific Small Island systems, Aquaculture value chains, consumers, markets
Developing States was held 23-25 February 2021. The and trade and Aquaculture statistics and information and
participants were invited and/or nominated through will be shaped by making use of the lessons learned from
the invitation letters initiated by FAO Regional and various case studies.
Subregional Offices sent to countries. Most participants
represented governments, with additional participants Out of 72 thematic modules, recommendations for
from academia, Intergovernmental organizations, non- editions and adding new modules have been suggested.
profit organizations, and research institutes. For the Africa Asia emphasized the need to add topics on water
region, consultation on GSA was organized back to back availability, transboundary movement of aquatic animals,
th
with the 18 Session of CIFAA; 28 countries attended aquatic animal disease surveillance, monitoring and early
the in-person consultation. For the Asia region, out of the warning, improving the base and knowledge management
26 countries invited, 18 countries attended the virtual- importance of youth in aquaculture, and aquaculture
mode consultation. For the Latin America region, out of leases and permits, water regulation, environmental
the 19 countries invited, 13 countries attended the virtual- policy and regulation. In the case of Latin America,
mode consultation. For the Pacific and the Caribbean, participants pointed out the importance of resource
out of the 23 countries invited, 16 countries attended the use efficiency, human rights related to sustainable feed
virtual-mode consultation. development, zoning and carrying capacity, family-level
aquaculture, raising youth awareness of the value chain of
The ongoing regional consultation process aims to: aquaculture production, and capacity building on business
1) share current policies and practices related to management.
aquaculture in the region;
2) review existing regional sustainable aquaculture During the regional consultations, participants were
guidance and assess gaps that GSA could address; asked: first to revise and select the case study concepts
3) consult on the development process of GSA in the proposed during the expert consultation in 2019 and the
regional perspective, and; COFI/AQ in 2019; then to proposed additional concepts
if relevant for their region. Eleven case study concepts
Written by: were proposed in Africa, 23 in Asia, 55 in Latin America,
Yumi Son 25 in in the Pacific and the Caribbean. Since the thematic
Email: Yumi.Son@fao.org modules composing the GSA will be shaped first by
Kwang Suk Oh making use of the lessons learned from existing relevant
Email: KwangSuk.Oh@fao.org documentation. The case study concepts will be selected
Rodrigo Roubach only to complement existing gaps, taking into account
Email: Rodrigo.Roubach@fao.org development status, production levels and systems,
FAO Fisheries Division, Rome, Italy
including similarities among then and with up to five case

FAO AQUACULTURE NEWS – Nº. 63 ■ MAY 2021 9