Page 66 - FAO Aquaculture News, May 2021 - No. 63

FAO 2020
FAO 2020 Legal considerations in responses
The role of social protection in the to COVID-19 to mitigate the risk of
recovery from COVID-19 impacts in disruption to fisheries and aquaculture
fisheries and aquaculture – Rome food systems – Rome

Food systems were severely hit by COVID-19 and the related This brief identifies some of the areas that governments have
restrictions to the movement of people and goods. In fisheries and intervened through emergency law to strengthen a resilient
aquaculture, the socio-economic effects of COVID-19 are manifold fisheries and aquaculture food supply chains and illustrates how
including changes in consumer demand, limited storage facilities, these regulatory measures can be adopted by other countries
drop in fresh fish prices and stopping fishing operations. Many thereby contribute to ensuring food security and economic
individuals working in the sector operate in the informal market development for all especially the indigenous peoples and
with no coverage from labour market policies – not registered in women. As such, it contributes to FAO’s Strategic Objectives on
mandatory social security, paid less than the legal minimum wage, the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition (SO2).
without a written contract, or self-employed. These individuals The PDF can be accessed directly at:
include small-scale fishers, migrant, fish workers, ethnic minorities, www.fao.org/3/ca9421en/CA9421EN.pdf
crew members, harvesters, gleaners and vendors – especially
women (FAO, 2020a; 2020b), who were the most affected by The document card can be found here:
the pandemic. Social protection (SP) has been a key response www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca9421en Publications
that governments took to alleviate the socio-economic impacts
of COVID-19 restrictions for fishery-dependent communities
(FAO, 2020c). Countries with strong social protection systems
in place were the most flexible to respond rapidly by adapting
social protection programmes to the impact of COVID-19.
Countries with weak social protection systems were less able to
tailor programmes to attend the sector which is characterized by
high informality. Several people who lost their employment were FAO 2020
also left without any access to income support. The main type of
social protection measures governments took to alleviate income Fisheries and aquaculture in the
losses in fisheries and aquaculture was temporary cash and in-kind Mediterranean and the Black Sea:
transfers. The second most used type of programme was input A preliminary analysis of the impacts of
subsidies. the COVID-19 crisis – Rome
The PDF can be accessed directly at: With a view to sharing information among its countries and
www.fao.org/3/cb3385en/cb3385en.pdf facilitating a reflection on future responses, the GFCM has
The document card can be found here: conducted a preliminary analysis of the impacts of this crisis on
www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb3385en the fisheries and aquaculture sectors in the Mediterranean and the
Black Sea region, which is contained in this brief. It clearly emerges
from this analysis that the COVID-19 crisis has had major effects
on fisheries and aquaculture production as well as on markets for
fisheries and aquaculture products. The extent of the impacts
and the measures taken have varied from country to country and
are evolving constantly. The GFCM will continue to follow the
evolution of this crisis to take steps to support the recovery of
FAO 2020 the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, with a special focus on the
impacts on the livelihoods of fishers and aquaculture farmers.
The impact of COVID-19 on fisheries
and aquaculture food systems. The PDF can be accessed directly at:
Possible responses – Information paper, www.fao.org/3/ca9090en/CA9090EN.pdf
November 2020 – Rome The document card can be found here:
www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca9090en
The purpose of this information paper is to update information on
the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the fisheries and aquaculture
sector and the measures taken, to inform on the ongoing impact
on the fisheries and aquaculture food systems, and responses from
seafood providers and governments to counteract the negative
impacts on seafood chains.
The PDF can be accessed directly at:
www.fao.org/3/cb2537en/cb2537en.pdf
The document card can be found here:
www.fao.org/publications/card/en/c/CB2537EN

FAO AQUACULTURE NEWS – Nº. 63 ■ MAY 2021 65