Sustainable fisheries need transparency!
Marine fisheries is a significant global activity that sustains communities and businesses worldwide, ensures food security, provides essential protein to millions, and makes sizable contributions to national economies. At the same time, the sector faces profound challenges from overfishing, climate change, and habitat loss and degradation, among others.
Since the Earth Summit in 1992, it has been widely accepted that the equitable and sustainable management of natural resources, including fisheries, depends on public access to information. Without comprehensive and reliable information, the capacity of national authorities to make decisions based on the best available data is diminished. So is the ability of non-governmental stakeholders to engage in public dialogue, exercise effective oversight and demand accountability. For example, access to stock assessments, data on catches, discards and fishing efforts are needed to identify if further fishing regulations are required or to assess whether the government is licensing too many (or too few) fishing vessels.
However, unlike other natural resource sectors (such as oil, gas and mining), many governments have not been disclosing even basic information on their fisheries sector, such as permits, fishing agreements, vessel registries, stock assessments, financial contributions, catch data and subsidies. Also, data that is already publicly available is often incomplete, outdated, unverified, or difficult to find and understand. This lack of transparency does not only undermine effective and evidence-based fisheries management – underpinned by sound governance and stakeholder participation; it also marginalises or undervalues certain groups or fisheries sub-sectors (in particular those that involve women), and increases uncertainty for investors, seafood retailers and consumers.
Addressing these shortcomings and contributing to sustainable fisheries management was a key motivator in establishing the Fisheries Transparency Initiative in 2015:
The Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) is a global, multi-stakeholder endeavour to enhance the sustainability of marine fisheries by increasing transparency and stakeholder collaboration.
By making fisheries management more transparent and inclusive, the FiTI promotes informed public debates on fisheries policies and supports the long-term contribution of the sector to national economies and the well-being of citizens and businesses that depend on a healthy marine environment.
About the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI)
Voluntary initiative
The intention to join the FiTI must come from a country’s government.
Multi-stakeholder initiative
The FiTI is not operated by one organisation nor does it represent the work of a single interest group. Instead, the diversity of different stakeholders is a central feature of how the FiTI works, for national implementations as well as international governance.
Global, country-centered initiative
The FiTI supports coastal states and island nations; it does not focus on a single country or on a region.
Marine fisheries management
The FiTI supports national authorities in enhancing transparency of marine fisheries management information, thereby complementing other transparency efforts, such as seafood traceability or vessel monitoring.
Holistic transparency apporach
Transparency is not a project or a campaign. Nor is it merely about publishing data, or an end in itself. In order to unfold its transformative capabilities and initiate far-reaching systemic change for sustainable fisheries, a holistic approach must be pursued, addressing the accessibility, credibility, awareness, understandability and usability of information.
The FiTI Principles
The FiTI Principles are the cornerstones of the initiative. They reflect the beliefs and aims of all FiTI stakeholders. They were agreed at the 1st International Conference of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative on 3 February 2016 in Nouakchott/Mauritania.
Principle 1
Sustainable fisheries contribute significantly to food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable development, and therewith to national and regional political stability and increased resilience to impacts of climate change.
Principle 2
Sovereign governments are responsible for the sustainable management of fisheries, utilising the country’s national fisheries wealth for the benefit of its citizens, to promote the national interest, food and nutrition security, and equitable socio-economic development.
Principle 3
All stakeholders have important and relevant contributions to make, including governments and their agencies, large-scale and small-scale fisheries, multilateral organisations, financial organisations, investors, organised civil society, and academia.
Principle 4
Transparency is essential for responsible fisheries, as it can stimulate an active demand for accountability, contributing to improved decision-making in fisheries management.
Principle 5
Transparency is most effective when information is shared and verified through the active, free, effective, meaningful and informed participation of governments, business, civil society, scientists, and other stakeholders as equal partners, thereby allowing all stakeholders to ensure that information is credible and legitimate.
Principle 6
For transparency to be effective relevant information has to be made available in an accessible format and in a timely manner to society.
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Principle 7
Increasing transparency and participation must be feasible and introduced progressively in order to ensure the wide acceptance of this initiative.
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A unique global framework to help coastal countries to increase the credibility and quality of national fisheries information
The FiTI does not intend to replace or duplicate existing government websites, but rather supports the further development and maintenance of these public resources.