Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 14th, 2012 – Monique Barbut, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility, today said joint effort by international institutions, and the public and private sectors is essential to protecting tuna fisheries in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ).
Barbut formally opened a Rio+20 Earth Summit side event, High Stakes on the High Seas: Sustainable Management of Global Tuna Fisheries, drawing attention to the critical decline in tuna fisheries and related threats to marine biodiversity.
"No nation has the sole responsibility for the management of these high seas," Barbut said. "Because of this, we are seeing the near collapse of some species of tuna, the loss of marine biodiversity, and rising threats to marine ecosystem health and services."
Studies indicate that tuna fisheries represent 7% of the world's catch, extending over 35% of the Earth's surface as the most commercially valuable marine resources.
More than 85% of countries harvest tuna in commercial quantities, Barbut said, adding that the value of landed catches of the most sought-after tuna varieties is estimated at over US$ 10 billion annually. Overfishing represents both an economic and environmental danger that extends from ABNJ into coastal fishing zones.
The efforts to promote public-private collaboration in protecting tuna fisheries are tangible results level. The International Sustainable Seafood Foundation (ISSF), a global partnership of the tuna processing and trading industries, the World Wildlife Fund and the world's leading fishery scientists, agreed in September 2009 to refrain from using over-exploited tuna species and to report illegal and unregulated activity related to tuna fisheries.
"Since tuna stocks are also found in the connected exclusive economic zones, poorly managed fisheries in the High Seas can seriously undermine the viability of coastal fisheries on which over half-a-billion people around the world rely on for jobs and food security," Barbut said.
Sustainable management of tuna fisheries and biodiversity conservation in the ABNJ aims to support the use of sustainable and efficient fisheries management and fishing practices by stakeholders. The global project, supported by the GEF, falls under the Biodiversity and International Waters focal areas, and is implemented by the World Bank, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Environment Programme and contributing partners. It strives to reduce illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing affecting millions of populations across the globe.
For more information on Rio+20 Summit and GEF side events, please visit http://www.uncsd2012.org/
Contact:
Mr. John Diamond
Senior Communication Officer | Spokesperson
Phone +1 202 458 7953
E-mail: jdiamond@thegef.org
Press Release No:13032012
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About the Global Environment Facility
The GEF unites 182 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. Today the GEF is the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment. An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.
Since 1991, the GEF has achieved a strong track record with developing countries and countries with economies in transition, providing $10.5 billion in grants and leveraging $51 billion in co-financing for over 2,700 projects in over 165 countries. Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP), the GEF has also made more than 14,000 small grants directly to civil society and community based organizations, totaling $634 million. For more information, visit www.thegef.org.
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