WCC 2020 Res 018 - Activity Report

With reference to operative statement 2 (request the Commission on Ecosystem Management Fisheries Expert Group to address equally both inland and marine fisheries) CI colleagues and I (in my role also as SSC Freshwater Conservation Committee co-chair) have reached out to the Fisheries Expert Group and encouraged their greater focus on inland fisheries, and collaboration with the Inland Fisheries Alliance (IFA) as it develops. The IFA is a collaborative group of individuals representing several different organisations. https://www.inlandfisheriesalliance.org/

Also in reference to operative statement 1a, a collaborative team published a paper highlighting the under-representation of inland fisheries in the SDGs and how this should be addressed (building on previous publications by this team):
Elliott V.L., Lynch A.J., Phang S.C., Cooke S.J., Cowx I.G., Claussen J.E., Dalton J., Darwall W., Harrison I., Murchie K.J., Steel E.A. and Stokes G.L. (2022). A Future for the Inland Fish and Fisheries Hidden Within the Sustainable Development Goals. Frontiers in Environmental Science 10:756045. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.756045.

The following is in reference to operative statement 1a (to support more explicit inclusion of inland fisheries in the post-2020 biodiversity framework, especially through the post-2020 zero draft target 5 and through reference to inland fisheries in SDG Targets 14.4, and 14.6, or in 15.1 (sustainable use of freshwater ecosystems). In my role for Conservation International (who led on developing this Resolution) and as co-Chair of the SSC Freshwater Conservation Committee I have worked with colleagues in promoting the inland fisheries index, developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United States Geological Service as a complementary indicator for GBF draft Target 5. My colleagues and I have recommended the adaption of this indicator in all feedback to the Post 2020 consultation process, through IUCN and through Conservation International. A brief summary of the index is given in (FAO, 2022). A more detailed description will be published later this year. This same indicator could then easily be applied to the SDG’s, for monitoring inland fisheries. This allow countries to easily monitor inland fisheries in both the GBF and the SDGs, using the same process, hence reducing complexity in application of indicators, which has been a concern of some countries.

FAO (2022). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022. Towards Blue Transformation. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc0461en.

With reference to operative statement 3a (call on government agencies to support ecosystem-based management of inland fisheries) and 3b (adopt recommendations made in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization ‘Rome Declaration for Responsible Inland Fisheries’) CI and other partners in the Inland Fisheries Alliance have developed a set of Core Principles that provide a set of key elements that the IFA will promote to target audiences as it works to achieve its goal of effectively incorporating inland fisheries into global development and conservation agendas by 2030. https://www.inlandfisheriesalliance.org/core-principles

Also in reference to operative statements 3a and 3b, Conservation International has been looking to develop projects that are focused on ecosystem-based management of inland fisheries, and currently are operating a Darwin Initiative project on ‘Pairing community conservation areas with sustainable aquaculture in Lake Victoria'.

The work listed above, especially the development of the inland fisheries index is also directly relevant to operative statements 1b (support assessment of inland fisheries in the SDGs, such that the national status of inland fisheries should not decline from their current state, or should be improved where the existing state is degraded) and 1c (enhance the collection of data to document the status and trends of inland fisheries).