NOAA Fisheries is taking a lead on the global stage in sharing its ecosystem approaches to fisheries management with interested nations, including opportunities at a recent United Nations conference.
“For the United Nations to prioritize discussing ecosystem approaches to fisheries management is not trivial,” NOAA Fisheries Senior Scientist for Ecosystems Jason Link said. “It is indicative of how important the topic has become around the world.”
The UN holds theme-based consultations annually as an international forum for member countries to advance fisheries issues. The focus May’s meeting was to explore how well countries are implementing ecosystem approaches to fisheries management.
This approach is codified as part of International Law and Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management and is the official policy of NOAA Fisheries.
The U.S. delegation to the conference was composed of key partnerships from many facets of NOAA Fisheries, including International Affairs, Trade and Commerce, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the Senior Scientist for Ecosystems.
Also included was a partnership with the State Department, which led the delegation.
NOAA Fisheries panelists provided both a national perspective and a representative case study from the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. Other countries, international government organizations, non-governmental organizations, regional fisheries organizations, and related members also shared lessons they’ve learned.