Govt to implement global fisheries standards

International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing marked

To improve the blue economy of the country, the government is working to provide guidance to help bring the fisheries sector of Pakistan at par with international standards.

This was stated by the Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Syed Ali Zaidi during a webinar to mark the international day for the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing on Monday. The webinar had been organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in collaboration with the Ministry of Maritime Affairs.

Emphasizing on the need to promote a blue economy and aquaculture, Zaidi underscored the contribution of fisheries and aquaculture in achieving sustainable development goals.

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“The ministry is committed to uplifting the fisheries sector with better cooperation and coordination of all stakeholders in the country and providing a platform for guidance to provincial governments to meet international standards of the fisheries sector,” he said.

Technical experts from FAO gave detailed presentations on the implementation of international instruments to achieve sustainable fisheries and also provided an overview of the FAO Global Record - an international tool to fight IUU fishing and voluntary guidelines for catch documentation schemes.

The webinar was attended by Zaidi, officials from the ministry, technical experts from FAO, representatives of local fisheries organizations, academia.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2020.