FiTI visits Chile and participates in the 3rd Latin American Fisheries and Aquaculture Summit
The International Secretariat of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) visited Chile during October to participate in the 3rd Latin American Fisheries and Aquaculture Summit, which was organized by the Mexican Council for the Promotion of Fishery and Aquaculture Products (COMEPESCA) and the National Fisheries Society of Chile (SONAPESCA). The event was attended by more than 100 people from across the continent, ranging from small-scale fishers, civil society representatives, government officials and industry leaders.
The summit was a meeting point for artisanal, small-scale and industrial fishers, fish farmers, aquaculture food producers, governments, international fisheries management organizations, supermarkets, seafood distributors, hotels, restaurants and civil society organizations to share experiences, work on future action plans, commitments and challenges to advance in the creation and consolidation of a model to highlight the sustainable seafood in Latin America.
FiTI’s Regional Coordinator for Latin America, Mr Nicolás Rovegno, participated in the session “Transparency and seafood consumption promotion”, in which he gave a presentation “Transparency for all”. He shared with the participants (including online attendees) information about the importance of transparency and the FiTI process that should be followed by interested countries.
During the panel discussion, which included representatives from ProPescado and COMEPESCA (Chilean and Mexican organizations promoting sustainable seafood consumption), Nicolás emphasised that “just publishing information is not our core objective, as it needs to be easily found and understandable by multiple stakeholders for it to be useful. The FiTI therefore promotes sustainable fisheries through the public accessibility and credibility of information, contributing to to informed public debates, decision-making and oversight.” He invited other countries in the region to follow Ecuador‘s leadership and commit to implement the FiTI Standard and improve transparency in fisheries management.
Additionally, the event was an opportunity for the FiTI to meet with several fishery stakeholders from across the region, such as industry representatives from Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Panama, Brasil and Mexico. The event was also an opportunity for additional conversations with Chilean authorities to continue exploring ways to collaborate.
