PRESS RELEASE
Washington DC, November 10, 2011
PK_Tuna_Manado_Pasar_Berserhati.jpg
Today the council of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has approved a broad scale, innovative approach to address the depletion of the High Seas. Fisheries are on the decline worldwide, despite being one of the most important global food security issues of this century. The High-Seas, places that don’t fall under the jurisdiction of any one country, cover 64% of the surface of the oceans. These “Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction” (ABNJ) are suffering from the tragedy of the commons, as no one nation has the sole responsibility for their management, in some cases resulting in the near collapse of some species of tuna, loss of marine biodiversity, and threatening of marine ecosystem health and services.
To address this planetary challenge, the GEF has partnered with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other agencies, NGOs, and the private sector, in the largest concerted effort to address this area which currently is responsible for over 10% of the global catch. Fisheries targeting the highly migratory species of the high seas, such as the tunas, are worth over US$10 billion annually alone. The aim of this groundbreaking initiative is to promote the sustainable management of fisheries resources and marine biodiversity in the most important global commons of the planet, meaning our shared oceans.
“We know that this is an ambitious initiative. But with the coalition of partners that we managed to establish, I am confident that we can create the necessary momentum to achieve the High Seas-ABNJ program’s objectives. The program indeed is the largest concerted effort to address this iconic last frontier to sustain its fisheries and biodiversity”, said Monique Barbut, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility.
The GEF is providing $50 million in grants, which is leveraging $270 million in co-financing from public and private partners, including FAO, the World Bank, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Tuna and Deep Sea Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the International Coalition of Fisheries Associations, the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, the South Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement, Birdlife International, Conservation International, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Global Oceans Forum.
"This isn't just about marine conservation. This is about food security," said Carter Roberts, President and CEO of World Wildlife Fund (WWF). “Thriving fisheries are essential for our lives, but woefully under-protected. This breakthrough brings together the industry's biggest players, the FAO and WWF to improve governance, reduce bycatch, and ensure a more sustainable future for tuna and other ocean life on which we all depend.”
“Through this collective partnership of our sustainability allies, we can ensure that proper management systems are successfully developed and we can demonstrate to the world that we don’t need to sacrifice economic development in order maintain ocean biodiversity,” said Christopher Lischewski, Board Chair of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, and president and CEO of Bumble Bee Foods. “We need to implement sound science, better management and more accountability to protect our marine environments and continue to enjoy all that they provide us.”
yellofin.jpg
The program will strive to deliver responsible management leading to restored ecosystems, piloted through rights-based management and the ecosystem approach, resulting in a reduction in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The program will also reduce other adverse ecosystem impacts on biodiversity, and introduce sustainable management practices for deep-sea fisheries.
"Forging a broad international partnership is the best way forward to reduce overfishing and illegal fishing of the world´s oceans," said Árni Mathiesen, Assistant Director General of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of FAO. "High seas fisheries offer food security and livelihoods to millions of people worldwide. The new partnership launched by GEF will be the first coordinated international effort on such a large scale to ensure the sustainable management of high seas fisheries striving to restore threatened fisheries resources and ecosystems. FAO is strongly committed to make the partnership a success."
In sum, this powerful partnership of the best organizations in the world dealing with fisheries and oceans biodiversity, together with the private sector, aims to demonstrate to the international community that this seemingly intractable problem can actually be reversed to the benefit of economic development and ocean biodiversity conservation.
Media contact: Christian Hofer, Senior Communications Officer, GEF, chofer@thegef.org, +1 202 413 4185
About the Global Environment Facility
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) unites 182 member governments — in partnership with international institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector — to address global environmental issues. An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants to developing countries and countries with economies in transition for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants. These projects benefit the global environment, linking local, national, and global environmental challenges and promoting sustainable livelihoods.
Established in 1991, the GEF is today the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment. The GEF has allocated $9.2 billion, supplemented by more than $40 billion in cofinancing, for more than 2,700 projects in more than 165 developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP), the GEF has also made more than 12,000 small grants directly to nongovernmental and community organizations, totaling $495 million.
For more information: www.thegef.org