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52 Industry Notes//

Hong Kong, Iraq and Thailand are the fever (ASF) outbreak in the Asia-Pacific ecosystems and raising awareness on
main markets for Iran’s fishery products, region, particularly China. ocean issues to strengthen decision-
with shrimp as the main export. making. Discussions have taken place
The Survey notes that the top nine feed- at the ABNJ Global Steering Committee
However according to the Head of Iran’s producing countries are the US, China, Meeting to extend the programme with
Fisheries Organization (IFO), new markets Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico, Spain, the aim of continuing to strengthen
for the country include China, South Japan and Germany. Together, these governance in international waters and
Korea and some EU nations, following countries produce 58% of the world’s reinforce measures to combat illegal,
the signing of various agreements. feed production and contain 57% of the unregulated and unreported fishing.
world’s feed mills.
Import ban lifted on IOTC & ICCAT: New FAD
Fukushima seafood GEF-FAO programme shows measures in 2020
progress
Singapore - In January 2020, the
government lifted import restrictions on A five-year, US$50 million programme
seafood from the area around Japan’s rolled out by the Food and Agriculture
Fukushima nuclear power plant. This Organisation of the UN (FAO) and
marked the end of a series of import partners has made remarkable progress
controls over nine years on produce from in protecting international waters’
across Japan, including Tokyo, Kanagawa biodiversity by rendering fishing in these
and Shizuoka over the past decade. The waters less harmful to several marine
decision to end the ban came after the species, including sea turtles and tuna. Credit: FAO
Singapore Food Agency (SFA) reported
that it has not detected any radioactive The Common Oceans ABNJ Program,
contaminant in food imports from Japan funded by the Global Environment
in the past five years. Previously, seafood Facility (GEF) focused on areas beyond A simple drifting FAD
products from the affected areas had to national jurisdiction (ABNJ) - also called By the end of 2019, two of the world’s
be accompanied by a test certificate for international waters - that cover 40% of biggest regional fishing management
radioactive contaminants to show that it the earth and comprise nearly 95% of organisations (RFMOs) - the Indian
meets safety standards, and a certificate the oceans’ volume. Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and
of origin to identify the prefecture of the International Commission for the
origin of the product. In 2019, Singapore “The Program has brought together Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
imported about 2 946 tonnes of fish and a broad and unique partnership to - had agreed on measures to reduce
fishery products from Japan, an increase tackle this challenge by promoting the the impact of Fish Aggregating Devices
of 18.91% from 2018. sustainable management of fishery (FADs) on marine ecosystems.
resources and ecosystem-based
practices, with some outstanding In 2020, IOTC called for purse-seiners to
WORLD results. We hope to expand this utilise non-entangling FADs (to reduce
initiative to continue safeguarding our accidental bycatches of species such as
marine biodiversity and contributing sharks and turtles), and that by 2022, all
Global aquaculture feed to the global goals and aspirations FADs should be made of biodegradable
of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable materials. IOTC also requires the number
estimates for 2019 Development and the post-2020 Global of active FADs per vessel in IOTC waters
Biodiversity Framework,” said Maria to be reduced from 350 to 300, and
According to the 2020 Alltech Global Helena Semedo, FAO’s deputy director- scaled down each vessel’s total, active
Feed Survey, global aquaculture feed general, climate and natural resources. and inactive, FAD count from 700 to 500.
sales rose by 4% to reach 41 million Further, IOTC clarified its reporting rules
tonnes in 2019. However, in terms of The GEF-FAO programme has made a for data on FADs, and will be working
volume, production was down by 1.07% number of gains including ensuring that towards standardised FAD marking,
to 1.126 billion tonnes, the first global eight out of 13 major commercial tuna tracking, and retrieval procedures.
decrease for nine years. One reason for stocks no longer experience fishing,

the lower output was because demand reducing bycatch and marine pollution, The ICCAT requires that in 2020, FADs
had declined due to the African swine establishing 18 new vulnerable marine fishing will pause during January and

INFOFISH International 3/2020 ● www.infofish.org