These Voluntary Guidelines for the Marking of Fishing Gear are dedicated to the memory of Joanna Toole, who worked tirelessly to reduce and manage ALDFG in the ocean and to stop ghost fishing by such gear worldwide. She played a key role in the preparatory process for the formulation of these Guidelines.

Abstract
The Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear are a tool to contribute to sustainable fisheries, to improve the state of the marine environment, and to enhance safety at sea by combatting, minimizing and eliminating abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) and facilitating the identification and recovery of such gear. The Guidelines assist fisheries management and can be used as a tool in the identification of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. The Guidelines address the purpose and principles, the scope of application and the implementation of a gear marking system and its associated components, including reporting, recovery and disposal of ALDFG or unwanted fishing gear and commercial traceability of fishing gear. The Guidelines also contain special considerations for developing States and small-scale fisheries with a view to capacity development, as well as guidance on conducting a risk-based approach to implementing gear marking systems. The Guidelines are expected to assist States in meeting their obligations under international law, including relevant international agreements and related governance frameworks and the specific requirements for gear marking contained in FAO's Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

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Blue Growth blog: A True Champion for animals and for the environment

Obituary - Joanna Toole
The whole world knows about the fate that befell Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 the morning of Sunday, March 10th. Despite media efforts, we do not all know the many and varied stories behind the 157 names on the list of those that met their fate in that terrible accident. We do not know their sense of purpose in life, their dreams and aspirations, and we can only imagine the sorrow that their families and friends experience now that they are no longer with us. Those that follow the events and want to know can guess, imagine and get close to knowing, but will never understand completely the feelings of others.

You can access the full article and supplementary materials online through the following links:

- Article

- Blue Growth Blog

Challenges to sustainably managing our oceans are numerous, but for the first time ever there are international instruments and measures in place that can help bring us closer to our objective. International treaties such as the FAO Port State Measures Agreement and agreements such as the Voluntary Guidelines for Small-scale Fisheries play an important role in strengthening governance and safeguarding the communities whose livelihoods depend on fisheries resources.

Related links:

Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA)

Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries 

Link to the document

Understanding and measuring the contribution of aquaculture and fisheries to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is a technical paper under WAPI, which can provide technical support to FAO work related to the subject, primarily the SDG 14.7.1 - Sustainable fisheries as a percentage of GDP in small island developing states, least developed countries and all countries, and also the Illuminating Hidden Harvests (IHH) project.

The contribution of aquaculture and fisheries to gross domestic product (GDP) is one of the most widely used indicators of its economic performance. Despite strong interest in and great efforts made towards assessing the contribution of aquaculture and fisheries to GDP, there is a general lack of understanding or consensus on how to properly measure the sector’s contribution to GDP and effectively use the measures for evidence-based policy and planning for sustainable aquaculture and fisheries development. While a fisheries GDP measure has been included in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (i.e. SDG Indicator 14.7.1: Sustainable fisheries as a percentage of GDP in small island developing states, least developed countries and all countries), it is nevertheless a Tier III indicator for which no internationally established methodology or standards are yet available. This paper contributes to improving the understanding and measurement of aquaculture and fisheries’ contribution to GDP by:

(i) using input-output models (including mathematical formulas and numerical examples) to formulate and clarify a set of measures of aquaculture and fisheries’ contribution to GDP;

(ii) discussing alternative methods to estimate the measures under data-poor environments;

(iii) suggesting an empirical methodology and general guidelines on the estimation and reporting of the measures;

and (iv) exploring how to utilize the measures for evidence-based policy and planning. The conceptual framework and empirical methodology suggested in the paper will help move towards internationally established methodology, standards and guidelines on measuring aquaculture and fisheries’ economic contribution.

Table of materials and presentations

10-day intensive TiLV course delivered by FAO experts to delegates from 6 participating countries: Angola, Ghana, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda under the project GCP/RAF/510/MUL: Enhancing capacity/risk reduction of emerging Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV) to African tilapia aquaculture funded by the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund.

A 10-day intensive training course on TiLV was held from 4-13 December 2018 in Kisumu, Kenya in collaboration with the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute and the Kenya Fisheries Service. Some 34 delegates from Angola, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda; delegates and officials of Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation, academe and producer sector representatives; officials of FAOR Kenya, FAOHQ and FAO experts actively contributed to the successful completion of the course. This activity is under the auspices of GCP/RAF/510/MUL: Enhancing capacity/risk reduction of emerging Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV) to African tilapia aquaculture funded by the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund. The course consisted of 14 sessions, namely:

Session 1: Country updates on National Action Plans (NAPs) on TiLV; Session 2: Diseases of aquatic animals; Session 3: Water quality; Session 4: Tilapia biology and aquaculture; Session 5: Field and laboratory checklist; Session 6: What is currently known about TiLV; Session 7: TiLV diagnostics; Session 8: Preparation for field work (all experts/participants); Session 9: Disease surveillance; Session 10: Socio-economic impact assessment; Session 11: TiLVRisk assessment; Session 12: Individual country work on NAP on TiLVand implementation; Session 13: Emergency preparedness and response; Session 14: Conclusions and the Way Forward.

The delegates prepared a detailed country level implementation of the TiLV National Action Plan (NAP): Diagnostics, Surveillance, Information dissemination, National consultation, Emergency preparedness that is expected to be carried out between January and December 2019; with field/laboratory work commencing on March 2019. It is anticipated that a possible Second regional Workshop: Analysis of surveillance data and implementation of TiLV NAP will be undertaken towards the end of 2019 or in 2020 back-to-back with a planned International Technical Seminar on TiLV. The closing ceremony was graced by FAO Representative to Kenya, Dr Gabriel Rugalema, who delivered a very inspiring speech and handed the certificates of attendance to all participants.

Impression from one of the participants: "Having taken 60 hours of Lectures, 8 hours of Practicals and 8 Hours Field (work on Lake Victoria), I graduated on Thursday 13th December 2018 and was awarded a certificate. We were all attentive, none missed a lecture, we began on time, ended without complain and above all Melba was in every Session and at the end of it gave a summary or additional notes on what the experts taught. It was a wonderful experience; rejuvenating old minds and taught us more than Epidemiology! We interacted, learned more about our Africa and above all made friendship that will generate more collaborations and linkages. I can go on and on but I learned so much from all of you." (Charles Ngugi, Mwea AquaFish Farm, Kenya)