Tropentag, October 11 - 13, 2006 in Bonn "Prosperity and Poverty in a Globalized World – Challenges for Agricultural Research"

Management of Aquatic Resources and Fish Trade: Challenges for the German Development Cooperation

German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Division of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Germany

Abstract

In 2004 about 37% of the worldwide fish production of around 130 million tonnes went into the international fish trade. For many developing countries - being net importers of fish in 1985 - the trade of fish and fisheries products has become increasingly important for their economies: in 2004 they exported 29 million tonnes representing a trade value of around US$ 35 billion.
However, there is a danger that the dynamically growing demand for fish and fisheries products from developing countries can result in more even more pressure on often already over-utilised fish stocks and in the exclusion of small-scale fisheries (not only from trade and but also from fish resources). The small-scale fisheries, representing an important basis for food security and livelihood for many communities, are competing not only with the local industrial fishing vessels but often also with distant water fishing fleets of developed countries.
In the capture fisheries sector, challenges comprise among others the establishment of ecosystem-based fisheries, co-management systems of national, regional and international waters, the fight against subsidies to reduce overcapacity of fishing fleets and the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; in the aquaculture sector, challenges are the integration of sustainable and eco-friendly smallholder aquaculture produc-tion systems, the sustainable supply of feeds and aquaculture technology and above all, for capture as well as farm fisheries, fair and equitable access to trade.
The authors give an overview on recent trends in world fisheries and aquaculture and present the potential fields of interventions/assistance for German Technical Cooperation.

Keywords: Aquaculture, capture fisheries sector, fisheries, trade

Contact Address: Uwe Scholz, German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Division of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Eschborn, Germany, e-mail: uwe.scholzgtz.de