Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

FAO Launches "Blue Transformation" Program to Support Efforts in Environmental Sustainability


Mon 04 Jul 2022 | 08:06 PM
Ahmed Emam

In a bid to support efforts in environmental sustainability, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the "Blue Transformation" program which offers high-impact solutions to deal with the issue of food security.

FAO's program sets out to achieve sustainable aquaculture intensification and expansion; effective management of all fisheries; and upgraded value chains that ensure the social, economic, and environmental viability of aquatic food systems, FAO said.

In this regard, FAO indicated that a blue transformation of aquatic food production is crucial if the global goals (SDGs) are to be met by their target date of 2030.

According to the latest State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture (Sofia) report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the proportion of fishery stocks within biologically sustainable levels decreased from 90% in 1974 to 64.6% in 2019.

Maximally sustainably fished stocks stood at 57.3% and underfished stocks at 7.2%, noted the report, which was launched yesterday (29 June) during the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon.

As the production of aquatic food continues to expand, the FAO asserted that more targeted transformative changes are needed to achieve a more sustainable, inclusive and equitable fisheries and aquaculture sector, what it describes as “a blue transformation”.

FAO said: "The growing demand for fish and other aquatic foods is rapidly changing the whole sector, with consumption expected to increase, driven mostly by a fast-paced increase in population, changes in post-harvest practices and distribution, as well as dietary trends focusing on better health and nutrition."