PROFISH
Encyclopedia
PROFISH is a global program on sustainable fisheries
established by the World Bank
in 2005. It has been set up in conjunction with key donors and stakeholders to meet the challenge of a growing crisis in the world fisheries sector.
The World Bank characterises this crisis in the following way:
PROFISH is a programming and funding partnership between key fishery sector donors, international financial institutions, developing countries, stakeholder organizations, and international agencies. PROFISH currently receives financial and in-kind support from Iceland
, France
, Norway
, Finland
, Japan
, FAO
, World Bank
, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and WorldFish Center
.
The specific objectives are to strengthen governance of the world’s marine fisheries by:
(i) improving the quality of investments made by both public and private sectors;
(ii) assisting countries and regions to establish roadmaps to achieve effective sector governance and reform using improved fisheries management tools; and
(iii) aligning donor interventions
It is intended that PROFISH would improve sustainable livelihoods in the fisheries sector and to make concrete progress towards meeting the 2002 fisheries goals of the World Summit on Sustainable Development through three complementary activities:
(i) ensuring sustainable fisheries initiatives are included in national plans and poverty reduction strategies;
(ii) building national and regional consensus on pro-poor sustainable fisheries initiatives and priority activities to implement the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries; and
(iii) aligning and enhancing international assistance on fisheries and sustainable use of aquatic ecosystems and catalyzing implementation of agreed initiatives.
, entitled The Sunken Billions: The Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform
, concludes that global marine capture fisheries are an underperforming global asset and shows that the difference between the potential and actual net economic benefits from marine fisheries is in the order of $50 billion per year. This is equivalent to more than half the value of the global seafood trade. The cumulative economic loss to the global economy over the last three decades is estimated to be in the order of two trillion dollars. In many countries the catching operations are buoyed up by subsidies, so that the global fishery economy to the point of landing (the harvest sub-sector), is in deficit.
Sustainable fisheries
Sustainability in fisheries combines theoretical disciplines, such as the population dynamics of fisheries, with practical strategies, such as avoiding overfishing through techniques such as individual fishing quotas, curtailing destructive and illegal fishing practices by lobbying for appropriate...
established by the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
in 2005. It has been set up in conjunction with key donors and stakeholders to meet the challenge of a growing crisis in the world fisheries sector.
The World Bank characterises this crisis in the following way:
"Increasing population pressures, growing demand for fish and failures of governance are leading to unsustainable levels of exploitation of living aquatic resources and destruction of aquatic ecosystems. In many developing countries the sustainable benefits are in decline, perpetuating a spiral into poverty for many small-scale fishers and communities dependent on fishing."
PROFISH is a programming and funding partnership between key fishery sector donors, international financial institutions, developing countries, stakeholder organizations, and international agencies. PROFISH currently receives financial and in-kind support from Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, FAO
Fão
Fão is a town in Esposende Municipality in Portugal....
, World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and WorldFish Center
WorldFish Center
The WorldFish Center an organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger by improving fisheries and aquaculture. It is an international, non-profit research organization that focuses on the opportunities provided by fisheries and aquaculture to reduce poverty, hunger and vulnerability in...
.
Objectives
The overall objective of PROFISH is "to improve sustainable livelihoods in the fisheries sector and to make concrete progress towards meeting the goals of the WSSD's goals in fisheries".The specific objectives are to strengthen governance of the world’s marine fisheries by:
(i) improving the quality of investments made by both public and private sectors;
(ii) assisting countries and regions to establish roadmaps to achieve effective sector governance and reform using improved fisheries management tools; and
(iii) aligning donor interventions
It is intended that PROFISH would improve sustainable livelihoods in the fisheries sector and to make concrete progress towards meeting the 2002 fisheries goals of the World Summit on Sustainable Development through three complementary activities:
(i) ensuring sustainable fisheries initiatives are included in national plans and poverty reduction strategies;
(ii) building national and regional consensus on pro-poor sustainable fisheries initiatives and priority activities to implement the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries; and
(iii) aligning and enhancing international assistance on fisheries and sustainable use of aquatic ecosystems and catalyzing implementation of agreed initiatives.
Recent Studies
A recent joint publication by the World Bank and the FAOFão
Fão is a town in Esposende Municipality in Portugal....
, entitled The Sunken Billions: The Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform
The Sunken Billions
The Sunken Billions is a study jointly published in 2008 by the World Bank and by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations...
, concludes that global marine capture fisheries are an underperforming global asset and shows that the difference between the potential and actual net economic benefits from marine fisheries is in the order of $50 billion per year. This is equivalent to more than half the value of the global seafood trade. The cumulative economic loss to the global economy over the last three decades is estimated to be in the order of two trillion dollars. In many countries the catching operations are buoyed up by subsidies, so that the global fishery economy to the point of landing (the harvest sub-sector), is in deficit.