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10 | OCEAN GOVERNANCE

SESSION 1. This is a major challenge, particularly for coastal
SUSTAINABLE FISHING communities, as pointed out by Stephen Kankam,
co-founder and deputy director of Hen Mpoano in the
While some 100 million tonnes of fish are caught eve- Republic of Ghana, an NGO working for the sustai-
ry year, making fishing sustainable is an urgent priority nable governance of marine and coastal ecosystems
for the future of ocean health. Although, there are along the Gulf of Guinea. "Considering that over 70%
still many obstacles in the way of further progress, of the fish caught is consumed locally, overfishing has
from overfishing and illegal, unreported, and unregu- a major impact on food security and livelihoods. The
lated fishing to destructive practices such as bottom threat to resources also destabilises social cohesion
trawling. Climate change, the loss of biodiversity and and distorts culture because fishing is a way of life."
pollution is increasing the pressure on fish stocks.
However, to reform unsustainable fisheries, we
need to strike a balance between ecological
objectives and socio-economic, nutritio- “We need to work together to
nal, geopolitical, and cultural aspects. This ratify the High Seas Treaty”.
session explored these challenges and the Razan Al Mubarak, President
means of overcoming them, illustrated by of the International Union
examples of fisheries governance, community for Conservation of Nature
conservation, blue economy, and blue finance.

Nina Jensen, President and CEO of the NGO
REV Ocean, emphasised the need to put science at
the heart of decision-making: "If we had the current
knowledge of the impact of bottom trawling on ma- SESSION 2.
rine biodiversity and the atmosphere, it would never HIGHLY PROTECTED MARINE
have been allowed", said the Norwegian speaker, AREAS
proposing a "system of transparency for fishing prac-
tices at a global level." The management of fisheries The global coverage of marine protected areas (MPAs)
resources requires agreements between states, as is increasing rapidly in spatial terms, but many protec-
indicated by the critical case of herring stocks in the ted areas are not reaching their conservation targets.
North Atlantic. For Miguel Bernal, from the General Only highly and fully protected areas are known to be
Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, the effective. The recent global framework for biodiversity
challenges of sustainable fishing cannot be disso- and the long-awaited draft agreement on the legally
ciated from the sustainable development objectives binding High Seas Treaty offer new opportunities to
concerning hunger, poverty, and malnutrition. On the extend and improve the protection of the marine envi-
other hand, taking the example of the Mediterranean, ronment. On this panel, representatives from science,
"one of the few areas to have seen a reduction in ove- governance, conservation, and blue finance investi-
rexploitation over the last decade", – as the example gated bridging the gap between ambitious goals and
of bluefin tuna has shown – it is possible to achieve effective action, addressing the role of local communi-
sustainable management of fisheries, provided that ties, civil society, governments, and the private sector
the appropriate rules are respected. "If fisheries were and outlining geopolitical, socio-economic, and other
well managed, we could have fish forever," says challenges.
Rashid Sumaila, Professor of Fisheries Economics at
the University of British Columbia, and author of the
recent book Infinity Fish. By 2023: 8% of the seas will be
IN protected, with only 3% classified
FIGURES as highly protected areas.