FAO Media Advisory - www.fao.org
[cid:image003.gif@01D11649.2E61A570]

MEDIA ADVISORY
International Symposium on Fisheries Sustainability

FAO Headquarters, Rome, 18-21 November 2019

Marine and inland fisheries are crucial to food, nutrition and livelihood security. But some 33 percent of marine fish stocks are being fished at biologically unsustainable levels - compared to just 10 percent  40 years ago - whilst the growing demand for fresh water fish is affecting the sustainability of inland fisheries.

Through a series of sessions<http://www.fao.org/fi/static-media/Symposium2019/agenda_en.pdf> (keynote presentations, panel discussions, side events), the Symposium<http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/sustainable-fisheries-symposium/about-the-symposium/en/> will explore what is the status of global and regional fisheries, and how to improve sustainability of resources that will be crucial to feed a world of 9 billion people. The event will also discuss fisheries management in the face of changing climate, the use of emerging technologies, and value chain improvements, among others.

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu will open the Symposium on 18 November 2019.

The Symposium's discussions will lead to the development of a technical document that will contribute to a new vision for fisheries' sustainability - to be endorsed during the 2020 Committee on Fisheries (COFI 2020)<http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/cofi/en/>.

A side event on Blue Innovation<http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/sustainable-fisheries-symposium/programme/day-0/blue-innovation/en/> (18 November, 10.30-12.00,  Sheikh Zayed Centre) and informal talks/show-and-tell<http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/sustainable-fisheries-symposium/programme/day-0/innovation-forum/en/> (18-21 November, Atrium) will discuss and present a wide array of fisheries innovations such as the use of: fish skin for burns, fish waste to create biodegradable plastics, block chain technology in the seafood sector, drones with artificial intelligence to fight illegal fishing, and fish products for clothing and accessories.

The visiting innovation experts (from China, Brazil, Kenya, India, Italy, Morocco, UK, USA) are available for interviews in person during the show-and-tell or via phone, email.

FAO, Global Fishing Watch, Fundación AZTI and Seychelles Fishing Authority will also issue on 18 November an Atlas on the use of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) to monitor fishing activity. The Atlas presents the opportunities and challenges involved in mapping and analysing fishing activity using AIS data, including an overview of number and percentage of fishing vessels broadcasting AIS, and presence and intensity of fishing activities across regions as detected from satellites and based on other analyses.

Keynote speakers at the opening ceremony (18 November, 16.00-18.00, Plenary Hall) are:

ˇ         FAO  Director-General Qu Dongyu

ˇ         Peter Thomson, UN Special Envoy for the Ocean

ˇ         FAO Director of Fisheries and Aquaculture Manuel Barange

ˇ         Ministers of Fisheries from a number of countries

ˇ         Intervention from youth representatives to discuss the difficulties that young fishers face in trying to enter and make a living in a very challenging sector

The panel discussions (18-21 November) will cover topics such as biodiversity and food from sea, securing sustainable fisheries-based livelihood, economics of fisheries, and fisheries management in the face of climate change.

Keynote speakers include:

ˇ         Ray Hilborn, University of Washington, USA

ˇ         Ana M. Parma, National Patagonian Center (CENPAT - CONICET), Argentina

ˇ         Elizabeth Fulton, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia

ˇ         Christopher Costello, University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), USA

ˇ         Shakuntala H. Thilsted, WorldFish, Malaysia

ˇ         Christopher D. Golden, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH), USA

ˇ         Philippa Cohen, WorldFish, Malaysia

ˇ         Mitchell Lay, Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations (CNFO) and Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI), Belize

ˇ         Carl Christian Schmidt, Nordic Marine Think Tank, Denmark

ˇ         Claudia Beltrán, International consultant, El Salvador

ˇ         Steven Gaines, Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA

ˇ         Éva Plagányi, CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere, Australia

ˇ         Serge Raemaekers, Abalobi, South Africa

ˇ         Donatella Castelli, CRN-ISTI, Italy

ˇ         Lori Ridgeway, International consultant, Canada

RESOURCES FOR THE MEDIA
Symposium site<http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/sustainable-fisheries-symposium/about-the-symposium/en/>
Symposium Agenda<http://www.fao.org/fi/static-media/Symposium2019/agenda_en.pdf>
Side Event on Blue Innovation<http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/sustainable-fisheries-symposium/programme/day-0/blue-innovation/en/>
Informal Talks on Innovation<http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/sustainable-fisheries-symposium/programme/day-0/innovation-forum/en/>
COFI 2020 site<http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/cofi/en/>

WEBCASTS
Apart from the Informal Talks, all sessions will be webcast live and available here<http://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/>.

PHOTOS from the symposium will be available here<https://www.flickr.com/photos/faonews/collections/72157711651772443/>.

MEDIA ACCREDITATION
Accreditation must be done no later than Thursday, 15 November at 12:00 (Rome time). Please send:
ˇ         a copy of a valid press card (or) letter of assignment on company stationery
ˇ         a copy  of a valid ID (passport, identity card)
ˇ         Email to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. include " Press Accreditation" in the subject line.
ˇ         Please have all ID materials with you to gain access to FAO premises.

FOLLOW ON TWITTER
#SustainableFisheries #FisheriesInnovation #BlueFashion
@FAOnews<https://twitter.com/FAOnews>  @FAOfish <https://twitter.com/FAOfish>  @FAO<https://twitter.com/FAO>

CONTACT

For accreditation:
Angela Grammatica
(+39) 06 570 53625
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>

For interviews:
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> (radio)
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> (TV)
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> or [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>






Journalists & editors:
For photos, audio clips, video material & b-roll, contact: (+39) 06 570 53625 or [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.

Online tools:
Photos via the FAOnews Flickr account<http://www.flickr.com/photos/faonews>
FAO's online newsroom<http://www.fao.org/news/newsroom-home/en/>
RSS feed<http://www.fao.org/news/rss-feed/en/> of FAO news releases
@FAOnews on Twitter<https://twitter.com/faonews/>

This media advisory was issued by the Media Office at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). To unsubscribe from this news service click the link below or send an email to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> with "signoff Media-G-Eng-L" as the only text in the message body. You can also manage your subscription online, here<https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa>.

FAO | Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy | (+39) 06 570 53625 | www.fao.org<http://www.fao.org>



########################################################################

To unsubscribe from the Media-G-German-L list, click the following link:
&*TICKET_URL(Media-G-German-L,SIGNOFF);