Report of the FAO Expert Consultation on the Development of International Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products From Inland Capture Fisheries

In 2005 the Twenty-sixth Session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) adopted FAO Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries, and at the same time recommended that FAO prepare international guidelines on the ecolabelling of fish and fishery products from inland fisheries. In response FAO convened an Expert Consultation on the Development of International Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Inland Capture Fisheries in 2006. After considering the initial draft Guidelines produced by the 2006 Expert Consultation, COFI, at its Twenty-seventh Session, recommended that FAO undertake further work in relation to the minimum substantive requirements and criteria for both marine and inland capture fisheries and in 2008 FAO convened an Expert Consultation to address these issues. The 2008 Expert Consultation proposed revisions to the marine guidelines and draft inland guidelines and it requested further clarification on definitions and scope of the inland capture fishery guidelines, especially in regards to enhanced inland fisheries. The COFI Sub-Committee on Trade (COFI:FT) at its Eleventh Session recommended that an Expert Consultation be convened to address these issues and the Twenty-eighth Session of COFI agreed that further work was needed. The Expert Consultation on the Development of Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Inland Capture Fisheries was convened in Rome, 25-27 May 2010. The Expert Consultation reviewed the Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries (Revision 1) adopted by the Twenty-eighth Session of COFI and published by FAO in 2009, the report of the Expert Consultation on the FAO Guidelines for Ecolabelling Capture Fisheries (2008), the report of the Expert Consultation on the Development of International Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Inland Capture Fisheries (2006) and a background paper prepared by an FAO consultant that synthesized main points from the above documents. The Expert Consultation reviewed and refined draft Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Inland Capture Fisheries for consideration by the Twenty-ninth Session of COFI. The draft Guidelines follow closely the structure, language and conceptual approach of the revised Marine Guidelines. Many changes to the draft Guidelines primarily relate to the scope and minimum substantive requirements for ecolabelling inland capture fisheries, especially regarding enhanced fisheries. Aquaculture and enhanced fisheries that are solely dependent on material originating from aquaculture were excluded from the scope of the guidelines.