Impacts of COVID-19 on fisheries and aquaculture: Effects, good practices and recommendations
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) characterized the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic. To contain the spread of the virus, countries adopted measures – such as restrictions on transport, closure of non-essential services like restaurants, hotels, catering – that had an immediate impact on the supply and demand of fish and fish products at global and local levels. This in turn had damaging effects on fishers, fish workers and fish farmers’ livelihoods, as well as on the food security and nutrition of low-income countries and small island developing states that rely heavily on fish for animal protein and essential micronutrients and/or for trade.
The full range of activities that are employed within the fisheries and aquaculture sectors is complex and globally, technologies employed vary from artisanal to large-scale industry. Not all sectors/value chains have been affected in the same way, and some value chains (e.g. frozen, canned/pre-packed fish) seem to have benefited from the crisis as long as they have access to supplies, storage and transport.
The objective of the side event is to:
- inform how COVID-19 and the measures taken to respond to the crisis are impacting and/or transforming fisheries and aquaculture activities;
- highlight some examples of good practices implemented to address the impact of the pandemic on the sector, and
- share some specific recommendations on policies to build a more resilient fisheries and aquaculture industry to build resilience for similar emergencies (e.g. pandemic) in the future.
Examples of challenges being faced and how these are being addressed are provided from speakers representing the following sectors and perspectives;
- Workers Perspective
- Trade Perspective
- Small-scale fishers and farmers, including women, and their communities
- Industrial capture fisheries
- Commercial aquaculture and supply chains
COVER PHOTO CREDIT:
©PARM/Carlos Acosta
Manuel Barange
Melanie Siggs
Kirill Buketov
Shirlene Maria Anthonysamy
Sebastian Mathew
Graciela Pereira
Majida Maârouf
Melanie Siggs
Manuel Barange
Manuel Barange
Director, Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Resources Division, FAO
Professor Manuel Barange is the Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Resources Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Rome, Italy and also an Honorary Fellow at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory and an Honorary Professor at the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK.
Until joining FAO in 2016 Prof Barange was Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Science of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory. From 2010-2013 he was also Chair of the Scientific Committee of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES. www.ices.dk), and from 1999-2010 was Director of the International Project Office of the IOC-SCOR-IGBP core project GLOBEC (Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics).
Manuel expertise includes physical/biological interactions, climate and anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems, fish ecology, behaviour and trophodynamics, and fisheries assessment and management. In recent years, he has focused his research on predicting the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems, and on the interactions between climate and other anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystem services. In his role at FAO he emphasizes the importance conservation and sustainable development to secure food, livelihoods and trade of marine goods and services.
Manuel was awarded the 2010 UNESCO-IOC Roger Revelle Medal for his accomplishments and contributions to ocean science. He is in the Strategic Advisory Board of IMR (Norway), and past member of the Science Advisory Boards of CEFAS (UK), KAUST Red Sea Centre (Saudi Arabia), NERC (UK) Innovation Strategy Board, and EU Horizon 2020 Advisory Boards, among others. He is a review editor of the IPCC Special Report on Oceans and the Cryosphere.
Shirlene Maria Anthonysamy
Director of INFOFISH
Shirlene Maria Anthonysamy serves as a Senior Trade Promotion Officer within the Trade Promotion Division. Within her role, she monitors and carries out work related to international fishery trade, produces a bimonthly trade newsletter and compiles INFOFISH Trade News. Anthonysamy writes the Tilapia and Pangasius report for GLOBEFISH Highlights (GH). She is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sebastian Mathew
Executive Director, International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF)
Graciela Pereira
Director, INFOPESCA
Graciela Pereira works at INFOPESCA since 1995. Graduated from Veterinary Medicine, she is part of the INFOPESCA Project Department, with vast experience in Latin America, the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe. She specializes in product quality control and processing as well as gender in the fishing and aquaculture sector.
Graciela Pereira is the founder and current president of the Latin American Network of Women in the Fishing and Aquaculture Sector. She is also Director of Internal Markets of the Pan American Network for Inspection, Quality Control and Technology of Fishery Products.