General fisheries commission for the Mediterranean: report of the webinar on the experience of the aquaculture sector through best practices and mitigation measures facing the COVID-19 crisis, 1 July 2020

ABSTRACT

This report presents the outcomes of the webinar on "the experience of the aquaculture sector through best practices and mitigation measures facing the COVID-19 crisis" which took place on 1 July 2020 and was conducted over the internet and hosted on the Zoom platform for webinars. It was organized by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in cooperation with the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI). The webinar aimed to address the pandemic's effects on aquaculture production as well as on supply chains, demand, local markets and trade, and to identify best practices and mitigation measures adopted by aquaculture farmers and countries. During the first thematic session, the experts highlighted the difficulties the aquaculture sector faced due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, several mitigation approaches were pointed out (i) specific financial support programmes designed through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF);(ii) a strong national aquaculture strategy guaranteeing self-sufficiency along the entire supply chain of shrimp farming in Saudi Arabia;(iii) the issuing of subsidies and credit loans in a timely manner to help producers in Turkey;(iv) the development of an online platform for fish auctioning to boost fisheries supply chain in Oman;(v) companies opening direct communication channels between the government and the farms in the United Arab Emirates;and (vi) solidarity between the sector and consumers, which allowed for the achievement of 50 percent of the programmed goals in the fish feed and larval industry in Tunisia. Other points addressed during the second thematic session included specific measures adopted and proposed, such as the focus on different aquaculture final products (e.g. frozen fish) and the establishment of local hatcheries and fish feed factories. The Q/A session which followed concluded the webinar.