International collaboration and collective efforts of Afro-Asian countries are required to address challenges in fisheries and aquaculture, the Assistant Secretary General of the African-Asian Rural Development Organisation (AARDO) said on Monday. Rami Mahmoud Abdel Halim Qtaishat, the Assistant Secretary General of AARDO, emphasised the critical need for balancing the exploitation and utilisation of marine resources for the health of the ocean and the sustainability of the food production system. He was speaking after inaugurating a 10-day international workshop-cum-training programme at the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) today, a central government release said. ”In the wake of a range of challenges including climate change, the transboundary nature of marine fisheries and issues of aquaculture demand a joint international effort to ensure sustainable practices across the globe”, the release quoted him as saying.
He further said that the AARDO — an intergovernmental organization comprising 18 countries from Africa and 14 from Asia to which the Indian government provides financial and technical contributions — is committed to fostering partnerships among its member countries to address the shared challenges in the sector. Rami Mahmoud said that fish remains a highly traded global food commodity and half of its export value originates from developing countries.
Fish and seafood are playing a vital role in providing nutritional security and fuelling livelihood, he added. Officials and researchers from eight AARDO member countries, namely Oman, Egypt, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, Zambia, Malaysia and Bangladesh are attending the workshop, which is part of the international collaboration between the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India and the AARDO, New Delhi, the release said.
Khushnood Ali, Head of Research Division and Programme Coordinator of AARDO pointed out that many African-Asian countries are striving hard to transform their food production sectors amid a series of daunting challenges such as poverty, hunger, food and nutritional insecurity, climate change and environmental degradation, it said.
The technological divide is one of the major issues being faced by these nations and this could be resolved to a great extent by fostering cooperation among countries enabling the transfer of technologies, he said, according to the release. ”Establishing a resilient and sustainable food system is necessary for eradicating hunger, addressing rural poverty and for inclusive growth,” Ali is quoted as having said in the release.
Delivering the presidential address, CMFRI Director Dr A Gopalakrishnan said collaborative efforts between governments, scientists and other stakeholders are the need of the hour to implement sustainable practices in fisheries and aquaculture, and protect the aquatic biodiversity, according to the release. The workshop will provide exposure and hands-on training on areas of fisheries management, fish stock estimation, climate change impacts on fisheries and mitigation, responsible fisheries, aquaculture, good aquaculture practices, fish health, etc. to the participants, it said.