FAO and "Ethics in Fisheries"

In the 21st century, it is necessary for us to go beyond the sole pursuit of economic and technological development and live in harmony with the global environment. The restructuring of ethics regarding the world's food problems is being demanded. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which has been addressing the world's food and agricultural problems as one of the United Nations' specialized agencies, is now grappling with "ethics in food and agriculture" in order to secure food security for humankind in the future, and the Fisheries Department has also started addressing "ethical issues in fisheries."

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), one of the United Nations' specialized agencies, is headquartered in Rome and was established in 1945 to tackle issues in food and agriculture. According to the FAO Constitution, the term "agriculture" includes fisheries and forestry, and the Fisheries Department is in charge of fisheries. In the Fisheries Department, there are three divisions (Fishery Policy and Planning Division, Fishery Resources Division and Fishery Industries Division) and two units (Fishery Information, Data and Statistics Unit and Program Coordination Unit) under the Office of the Assistant Director- General, and their activities cover all fields of fisheries in the world. The Yearbook of Fishery Statistics, which is published yearly by FAO, is a valuable source of information on fisheries in the world 1). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA), which is similar to the Japan's annual report on fisheries, is also published biannually 2). Representatives concerned with fisheries from member countries attend the Committee on Fisheries (COFI), which is held biannually, in order to exchange various opinions and to make decisions on fisheries issues in the world. The committee has recently been working on prevention and elimination of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing as an especially important problem. The Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (hereinafter referred as "the Code")3), which was adopted in 1995, is not legally binding, but is accepted by countries throughout the world as a "voluntary" code for all fisheries. The International Plans of Action (IPOAs) were developed within the framework of the Code in order to serve as instruments for each State and regional fishery body to tackle concerned issues in compliance with the Code such as the IUU fishing issue.

Japan's Contribution to FAO

FAO headquarters in Rome (Photo taken by the author

Japan is the second-largest donor after the U.S. and its contribution accounts almost for 20% of the total financial contributions to FAO. More than 35 Japanese nationals work at the FAO headquarters, including five who work in the Fisheries Department. Japan also provides financial resources for the Fisheries Department in the form of trust funds for special purposes, which are kept separate from the regular contributions. Trust funds are essential for the Fisheries Department's major activities that include the sustainable contributions of fisheries to food security, support for responsible fisheries, and fisheries management in consideration of ecosystems. I work as a Fishery Liaison Officer in the Fishery Policy and Planning Division. While I am mainly in charge of the Secretariat for COFI, liaison with regional fishery bodies and NGOs, and the collection and provision of relevant information, I am recently assigned a new duty as a coordinator for "ethical issues in fisheries."

FAO's Approach to Ethical Issues

"Ethics in food and agriculture" is one of the priority areas for interdisciplinary action, for which inter-departmental efforts are required among the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Departments in FAO. The outcomes of their activities have already been published in three volumes of publications called "FAO Ethics Series", which are available through the FAO's website 4). What are ethical issues in food and agriculture? In the FAO Ethics Series 1, "Ethical Issues in Food and Agricul ture," 5) the values of food, enhanced well-being, human health, natural resources and nature are listed as five ethical values to be considered by FAO. These ethical values now face several profound changes, such as drastic population growth, overexploitation of natural resources, frequent occurrence of human-induced "natural" disasters, industrialization and globalization of agriculture, economic imbalances and emergence of the new technologies such as biotechnologies and advanced information technologies. Heretofore, it has been possible for people to manage to feed themselves, even if they were poor, as long as there was land for cultivation. However, there is a concern that recent drastic changes may erode such traditional "safety nets." It has also been pointed out that the management of common resources traditionally shared by communities may be jeopardized. For instance, fisheries resources may be depleted due to the development of fisheries technology and consequent overcapacity, so that the existence of communities traditionally dependent on those resources may be threatened. There is also concern over the changing climate and the loss of biodiversity. The loss of biodiversity may lead the loss of cultural diversity and undermine people's rights to food security and the rights to determine their future. Therefore, the ethical issues in food and agriculture mean the challenges, in order to secure the ethical values, to fill the gap between needy countries and some wealthy countries, to create a world where everybody can equally share the benefits of food and agriculture in full consideration of cultural differences and the degree of globalization, and to seek the true food security by securing production, distribution, quality and safety of food.

Ethical Issues in Fisheries

The Fisheries Department decided to elaborate the ethical issues particularly in fisheries. It is understood that the Code is the codes of "conduct" as well as "ethics" (the moral code) and therefore it is considered that the Code should be the starting point for further elaboration in the ethical dimension. "Responsible fisheries" mean, in a word, fisheries that realize sustainable development in consideration of, inter alia, the environment and future generations. "Responsible fisheries" imply various principles, such as the "sustainable development" and the "precautionary approach," which were highlighted in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in 1992. I think that Japanese fisheries are highly "responsible fisheries" in general. In particular, traditional coastal fisheries, which have utilized limited fishery resources over generations, can be considered as typical cases of responsible fisheries. The traditional coastal fisheries management in Japan has been conducted mainly by fisheries cooperatives within fishing communities in a voluntary manner. Such voluntary fisheries management by fishers themselves would be, indeed, the responsible fisheries practice, which the voluntary "Code" calls for, and could be a model of an idealistic shape of fisheries, toward which the ethical pursuit should be directed 6). In the 20th century, economic principles were given more priority than any other principles. As a result we, human beings, may have overstepped a certain limit, which we should not. In the 21st century, we should control ourselves more appropriately and live in harmony with the global environment rather than simply pursuing the development of economy and technology. Ethics can provide the wisdom to meet that end. I have a certain presentiment that the 21st century will become "the century of ethics", where the reestablishment of ethics being demanded not only in fisheries, but also in all aspects of the human activities.

The opinions expressed in this article reflect those of the author and not of the organization to which the author belongs.
1) FAO. 2003. FAO Yearbook of Fishery Statistics: Capture Production Vol.92/1. FAO Fisheries Series No. 63. FAO Statistics Series No. 173. Rome. FAO.
2) FAO. 2002. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2002. Rome. FAO.
3) FAO. 1995. Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. Rome. FAO.
4) http://www.fao.org/
5) FAO. 2001. Ethical issues in food and agriculture, FAO Ethics Series 1, Rome, FAO.