The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020

 Whose tenure or users right - community and individual: the case of two river estuarine communities in Ghana
[online]. 
[Cited 25 December 2019]. www.fao.org/3/CA2338EN/ca2338en.pdf
For additional comparable studies: FAO. 2019. Tenure and User Rights in Fisheries 2018: Achieving Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, 10–14 September 2018, Yeosu, Republic of 
Korea. In:
 FAO
[online]. [Cited 25 December 2019]. www.fao.org/about/meetings/user-rights/en/
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THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 
2020
migrant workers identified as a particularly 
vulnerable group. 
In recent years, numerous governmental and 
non-governmental initiatives and participatory 
multi-stakeholder processes at the national, 
regional and international level have called for 
the promotion of decent work, in particular 
the recognition of human and labour rights 
throughout fisheries and aquaculture value chains. 
FAO’s fisheries and aquaculture mandate
The strategic planning framework of FAO 
has identified social responsibility as key to 
eradicating hunger and rural poverty, including 
in fisheries and aquaculture. In 2016, at the 
Fifteenth Session of the COFI Sub-Committee on 
Fish Trade (in Agadir, Morocco), FAO Members 
highlighted the increasing concern about social 
and labour conditions in the industry.
In 2017, the Sixteenth Session of the COFI 
Sub-Committee on Fish Trade (in Busan, the 
Republic of Korea) welcomed the inclusion 
of social sustainability on the agenda. 
Members confirmed the significant importance 
and relevance of social sustainability issues in 
value chains, in particular, the recognition and 
protection of human and labour rights at the 
national and international levels.
In 2018, the Thirty-third Session of COFI 
recommended that future guidance on social 
sustainability be developed in cooperation with 
relevant stakeholders, including industry and 
fishworkers associations. 
In 2019, the Seventeenth Session of the COFI 
Sub-Committee on Fish Trade (in Vigo, 
Spain) re-affirmed the importance of social 
responsibility in the fisheries and aquaculture 
sector (FAO Committee on Fisheries, 2020). 
The Sub-Committee noted the work presented 
by the Secretariat and acknowledged the efforts 
of FAO for the broad and inclusive consultation 
process leading to the development of the draft 
guidance. It was also recommended that the 
Secretariat develop a scoping paper to further 
contextualize the issues specific to the fisheries 
sector, providing a clear outline of the major 
challenges, and underlining that any guidance 
should be voluntary and targeting business actors.
FAO’s work on social responsibility
FAO’s Strategic Programme on Rural Poverty 
Reduction promotes decent work and social 
protection in agriculture, including a significant 
range of related activities in the fisheries and 
aquaculture sector. This work has gained 
further significance since COFI recognized the 
linkages between IUU fishing and working 
conditions. However, to date, there has been no 
international document focusing specifically on 
social responsibility in fisheries and aquaculture 
and covering all the stages in the value chain. 
As a consequence, COFI has requested that 
FAO develop a guidance framework, compiling 
and integrating relevant existing international 
instruments covering the stages of the fish and 
seafood value chains where social sustainability 
play a key role. This document should be based 
on the international rule of law respecting human 
rights and principles, and relevant instruments 
and standards of the ILO.
Since 2014, FAO has organized an annual 
multi-stakeholder consultation called the Vigo 
Dialogue on Decent Work in Fisheries and 
Aquaculture, which reviews different experiences, 
their challenges and benefits, as well as ways 
and means of promoting decent employment in 
fisheries and aquaculture. The consultation aims 
to discuss labour issues and suggest priority 
actions for the implementation of relevant 
international and national legal frameworks and 
instruments by governments, unions, international 
organizations, non-governmental organizations 
(NGOs), civil society and industry, among others. 
FAO’s work on social sustainability in fisheries 
and aquaculture was scaled up in 2019 when FAO 
conducted four multi-stakeholders consultations, 
respectively, in Agadir (Morocco), Brussels 
(Belgium), Rome (Italy) and Shanghai (China), 
to share inputs, comments, suggestions and 
feedback from relevant stakeholders in the 
sector. More than 154 participants attended, 
representing trade unions, governments, 
NGOs, academia, civil society, industry and 
international organizations.
In addition, for six weeks, the resulting first draft 
of guidance on social responsibility was open to an 
online consultation for comments and suggestions. 
Of the more than 1 000 people invited by FAO 
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PART 2 
SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION
to register for the e-consultation, more than 
750 comments were received, with the participation 
of 57 subscribers. The feedback received was 
reviewed and used to enrich the draft guidance.
Finally, it is worth highlighting that, already 
in 2016, FAO together with the Organisation 
for Economic Co-operation and Development 
(OECD) had developed the OECD–FAO 
Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply 
Chains to help enterprises observe existing 
standards for responsible business conduct along 
agricultural supply chains in order to mitigate 
adverse impacts and contribute to sustainable 
development. The OECD–FAO Guidance 
includes the OECD Guidelines for Multinational 
Enterprises, the CFS–RAI, and the VGGT.
Conclusion
Work on social sustainability in fisheries and 
aquaculture value chains has become a major 
focus of the international community and key 
stakeholders of the fisheries and aquaculture 
sector. It is central to FAO’s efforts to build 
consensus around international guidance and 
provide technical assistance to developing 
countries, especially the least developed ones, 
so they can meet modern requirements and their 
SDG commitments for social sustainability in 
fisheries and aquaculture. This requires resources 
and international collaboration with the ILO, 
OECD, RFMOs and other key stakeholders to 
support FAO in this endeavour. 
Responsible fishing practices
Article 8 of the Code sets out the principles 
for responsible fishing practices. It covers 
major areas of attention in fishing operations, 
technology, gear types and their environmental 
impacts, and the duties of States to ensure that 
fishing operations are conducted in a responsible 
manner. However, these aspects need to integrate 
the latest developments on bycatch and discard 
reduction, fishing technologies, fisheries 
finance, safety at sea, social security and 
decent employment.
Safety at sea
Fishing remains one of the most dangerous 
occupations in the world, with high accident and 
fatality rates in most countries. Despite greater 
awareness and improved practices, the number 
of accidents and deaths among fishers has risen 
consistently. This may be partly attributed 
to the significant increase in the number of 
people employed in capture fisheries – up 
from 27 million in 2000 to 40 million in 
2016. Although exact figures are unavailable, 
conservative estimates of fishing fatalities have 
increased to more than 32 000 people annually. 
The numbers of fishers injured or suffering 
from work-related illnesses are much higher. 
These fatalities and accidents have major impacts 
on families, crews and communities.
The Fifth International Fishing Industry Safety 
and Health Conference, held in Canada in 
2018, showed that annual rates in the fisheries 
sector in many developed countries remain 
above 80 fatalities per 100 000 active fishers. 
It also reported that the numbers in some 
developed countries are declining slightly, but 
very slowly. However, anecdotal evidence from 
various developing countries indicates that 
the number of accidents has been increasing 
and that the issue of safety at sea is being 
inadequately dealt with. It is essential to fill 
gaps in information on accidents and fatalities 
in developing countries and to assess their 
causes. All stakeholders need to act to address 
safety at sea as well as occupational health 
and safety in fish processing and aquaculture. 
Following the call by COFI in 2018, FAO and