FAO Aquaculture Newsletter (FAN) 62 is out

The sixty-second issue of the FAO Aquaculture Newsletter (FAN) is now available online. This issue highlights FAO’s work on aquaculture around the world, particularly FAO's activities in response to COVID-19, including gender dimensions of COVID-19 and its impact on women in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. Updates from around the world, including new developments in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, support to a recirculating aquaculture project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, establishment of demonstration sites in Morocco for marine cage farming, and creation of employment opportunities through sustainable aquaculture development activities targeted at youth in Côte d’Ivoire are also summarized.

The impacts of COVID-19 serve as a stark reminder of the need for aquaculture to be resilient to all types of shocks and to be prepared to manage future disasters, and two articles from the Latin America and Caribbean region outline FAO’s work in rebuilding a prawn hatchery in Dominica and supporting diversification and adaptation in Chile to the impacts of climate change. Relatedly, a thematic article focuses on adaptation of the seaweed sector in Zanzibar. The importance of communication of the positive aspects of aquaculture is examined in an article from the European region, underscoring the importance of social license and acceptability for the sustainable development of aquaculture. And while many of us are aware of the importance of fish to healthy diets, we also look at a success story of using fish in school feeding programmes, and how improved nutrition can have direct positive impacts on children’s education and quality of life. We take this opportunity to update readers on the continuing work towards the Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture and the Global Information System on Farmed Types of Aquatic Genetic Resources. This issue also informs the readers on what FAO is planning for the future, providing updates on the Global Conference on Aquaculture, as well as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture.

PDF: http://www.fao.org/3/cb1550en/cb1550en.pdf

Information: A. Stankus

The FAO Yearbook of fishery and aquaculture statistics is a compilation of statistical data on capture fisheries and aquaculture production, employment, commodities production and trade, apparent fish consumption and fishing fleets. It is structured into a booklet (containing summary tables, notes on major trends, concepts, classifications and a map of FAO major fishing areas) and a USB Card presenting the full yearbook package with all the key information and the complete set of statistical tables, available in electronic format at http://www.fao.org/fishery/static/Yearbook/YB2018_USBcard/index.htm.

A list of all Yearbook issues is available here.