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WORLD FISHERIES CONGRESS IN EDINBURGH T he world's fisheries community gathered in Edinburgh in May to discuss the future of sustainable fishing at the 6th World Fisheries Congress, which attracted 1,365 delegates from 65 countries. Addressing Sustainable Fisheries in a Changing World, the Congress was opened by HRH The Prince of Wales and, over the course of five days, tackled the science that underpins sustainable fishing; adaptive management and tools to cope with changing environments, and the social and economic cost of failure. His Royal Highness addressed the conference on sustainability in his capacity as the founder of The Prince's International Sustainability Unit. Established in January 2010, the ISU works to build consensus on how to resolve some of the key environmental challenges facing the world, specifically those concerning food security, ecosystem resilience and the depletion of natural capital. The ISU works with governments, the private sector, and non-governmental organisations, with the aim of building partnerships to help address these challenges. SEAFOOD CERTIFICATION DEBATE Scientists debating the efficacy of seafood certification systems agreed that developing best practices in fisheries, fish farms and the seafood supply chain are varied, but that in recent years standards, certification and labelling have achieved a more prominent role. They agreed that the environmental credentials of seafood are confusing due to the multiple seafood rating systems currently in place, and looked at the opportunity and reality of standards and certification, in transitioning fisheries towards sustainability, and, the role of Fisheries Improvement Projects. The most stringent and widely used certification is the Marine Stewardship Council, which has certified 148 wild-caught fisheries, or approximately 7 per cent of the global supply. Congress keynote speaker David Agnew, Director of Standards at MSC said, "We have produced a range of papers that demonstrate improvements in the management of fisheries that are incentivised by certification." Rainer Froese, from the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, said, "Labels have a role to play in guiding consumers to sustainable seafood. However, labels have to live up to their promise. Our analysis of the status of certified seafood showed that about 30 percent of the stocks were too small and were suffering from too high fishing pressure. Clearly, these fisheries need to be de-certified." ILLEGAL FISHING CLAMPDOWN Delegates looking at the impact of illegal fishing on the industry, have heard that one in four fisheries around the world has collapsed in the past 50 years because of unsustainable fishing practices resulting in depleted fish stocks globally. Financial HRH Prince of Wales – Prince Charles losses are estimated to be between US$10 billion and US$23.5 billion per year, or between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish. Sierra Leone in West Africa which has the highest incidence of illegal, unreported and unregulated catch, or 'Pirate Fish', in the world, has cracked down on illegal fishing in the country's inshore exclusion zone with its Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources tracing and fining several vessels that fled before being apprehended. Steve Trent of UK-based NGO, Environmental Justice Foundation said, "We are witnessing a potentially transformative moment in fisheries enforcement in West Africa. If this pressure is maintained, we are confident that the profit can be taken out of illegal fishing once and for all." WFC CONFERENCE WRAP-UP Delivering the closing address, Eric Schwaab, speaking for the US Department of Commerce, described how the US has rebuilt 27 depleted fish stocks since 2000 and shared details of the process that is addressing overfishing. Panel discussions at the congress addressed: • Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform proposals: panellists reached the unanimous view that reducing unwanted catches and discards is vital for the success of fisheries reform. • Role of standards, certification and labelling: the panel debated whether current labelling sufficiently informs consumers to make sustainable choices, and agreed that ongoing engagement between certification bodies and fishers is essential in order to secure an effective system. • Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing: Illegal fishing represents millions lost yearly in revenue, and thwarts vulnerable West African fishermen who depend primarily on fishing as a cheap source of protein in their diet, and their only source of livelihood. Fisheries experts and political figures who contributed to the events included: • Richard Benyon MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Natural Environment and Fisheries • Richard Lochhead MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment • Lowri Evans, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries for the European Commission • Professor Michel Kaiser, School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University • Tony Long, Director, European Policy Office, WWF • Rainer Froese, senior scientist, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel • Professor Ray Hilborn, University of Washington, Seattle, US • Mike Mitchell, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Young's Seafood and Findus Group, UK • Dr Malcolm Beveridge, Director of Aquaculture and Genetics at the WorldFish Center, Zambia www.6thwfc2012.com July/August 2012 Professional Skipper 25