By Loretta B Manele
Japan’s Sasakawa Peace foundation is committed to act as catalyst for a number of areas including sustainable fisheries.
Atsushi Sunami, President of Sasakawa Peace Foundation gave the assurance to Pacific Island countries at the Honiara Summit- “Iumi tugeda delivering on SDG 14.4: Achieving Sustainable Fisheries” at the Friendship Hall yesterday.
He said the Sasakawa Peace Foundation is committed to acting as catalyst for developing partners, sharing knowledge, promoting innovation and fostering leadership and entrepreneurship for sustainable fisheries and blue economies.
Sunami also took the opportunity to highlight a number of key points in relation to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.4 which is centred on how Pacific Island countries can sustainably manage their fisheries resources.
His first point is that since we all depend on the ocean and its resources but at the same time are increasingly concerned about the impacts of climate change and other related factors it is vital that all Pacific Island countries and their counterparts strengthen collaborative actions to maintain a healthy and protective ocean.
“First, we all depend on the ocean and its resources, yet we are increasingly concerned about the impacts of climate change, sea temperature rise, the increasing frequency of extreme climate events, marine pollution, biodiversity loss and declining fish stocks.
We must strengthen our collaborative collective actions to maintain a healthy and protective ocean and to reduce vulnerability and develop resilience in small island developing states, as underlined by the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States, a Renewal Declaration for Resilient Prosperity.
We explore a way to contribute to the development of vulnerability and resilience country profiles.”
Sunami said the second point is that a key policy challenge lies in finding the optimal balance between conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources.
“A question arises as to how we can increase socio-economic benefits from sustainable fisheries while striving to achieve the 30 by 30 target under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Innovation and strategic partnerships are essential for that.”
The third point he raised is the need to promote equity and justice within the fishery sector.
Sunami expressed that he was particularly impressed by the work of the FAA’s Regional Maritime Surveillance Centre yesterday in monitoring vessels and enforcing marine laws and fishery regulations in the region.
He went on to stress on his fourth key point which is focused on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Sunami stressed that to eliminate IUU fishing they have to engage in all fish nations and seafood importing countries in eliminating IUU fishing by having them as parties to port state measures agreements, PSMA (Port State Measures Agreement).
He added that they must also enhance socio-economic benefits for sustainable fisheries requires cross-sectoral and multi-stakeholder partnerships.
In this regard, Sunami mentioned that they must bridge the fishery sector and serve industries such as restaurants and tourism.
Lastly, he said the Sasakawa Peace Foundation collaborates with the Japanese policymakers and the fishery agency to promote what they call Umigyo.
“A Japanese concept referring to ocean-based livelihoods, and we are producing educational comic books to highlight success stories, challenges, and key drivers for Umigyo, Japan’s version of a sustainable blue economy.”
He emphasized that partnerships are vital and they look forward to participating in candid, inspiring discussions that will enable Pacific Island countries to present forward-looking recommendations at the third UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France this June, advancing SDGs 14.4 and strengthening international collaboration.
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