Green Economy in a Blue World-Full Report

In the fishnet

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Faroe Islands

Greenland

Papua New Guinea

Denmark

Finland

Bangladesh

Namibia

Lithuania

Brazil

Nigeria

Pakistan

Portugal

Yemen

Argentina

Ghana

Mauritania

Senegal

Ireland

Poland

New Zealand

Australia

Vanuatu

Sri Lanka

Greece

Netherlands

Ecuador

Latvia

South Arica

Angola

Maldives

Panama

France

Iran

Ukraine

Oman

Egypt

Italy

Sierra Leone

Venezuela

UK

Turkey

Germany

Algeria

Colombia

Sweden

Hong Kong SAR

in a Blue World

Note: Only countries with catches over 100'000 tonnes are shown.

Source: FAO aquastat, accessed in February 2012.

labelling Fish and Fishery Products from Inland Capture Fisheries and Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification (FAO, 2011b). While some internationally recognized labels, such as the Marine Stewardship Council (through its Developing World Fisheries Program), have put forth great efforts to facilitate the certification requirements of certain small scale fisheries, the relatively high cost of these schemes continues to be an impediment for many small scale fisheries of developing countries. Still, the expected positive outcomes of eco-labelling, including increased profit margins, better conservation and a shift of consumer preference towards sustainable fisheries cannot be ignored. As long as labels and certification schemes are not used as barriers to trade and their accessibility to small- scale fishers and fish farmers is improved, they should feature prominently in a green economy. Payments for ecosystem services (PES) are anothermarket-basedmeasurethatcanpromote sustainability. PES are voluntary transactions where a well-defined environmental service is purchased by a service buyer from a service provider, on condition that the provider ensures that the environmental service is maintained (Wunder, et al., 2008). The system attempts to specifically value the services that an ecosystem provides as well as the costs incurred by destruction of the ecosystem. With PES, households (or other ecosystem use decision makers) are paid to protect the resource, and

example of which are payments to coastal communities to preserve mangrove forests. The concept is being tested in other fields (e.g. oil extraction) and applications to fisheries and aquaculture could be tested. A specific example of their use is in the conservation of mangrove forests, which have recently been made eligible for carbon markets under the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation avoided (REDD+) scheme. For consumers to be willing to pay a premium for sustainably and fairly produced products (or to pay for or contribute to ecosystem services), they need to be informed and have access to information. Awareness raising hence becomes an important component in the context of introducing economic incentives for green growth. This is also related to the discussion above on increasing the recognition of the role and importance of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture for poverty alleviation and food and nutrition security and to ensure political commitment to the necessary reforms. 5 Conclusions Fishers and fish-farmers should, given their dependence on ecosystem services, be stewards of the wider marine ecosystem. Greening the fisheries and aquaculture sectors requires the overall recognition of their wider societal roles – in particular that of small-scale operations for local economic growth, poverty reduction and food security – through a comprehensive

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