CTI-CFF Sat on Panel on Innovations for Sustainability in World Ocean Conference 2022

CTI-CFF participated in a panel in the World Ocean Conference 2022 titled “Fisheries: innovations to close the sustainability gap” organized by the Economist in Singapore (29/11/2022). Moderated by Dominic Ziegler – Senior Asia Correspondent for The Economist, the session presented speakers from four respected organizations: Gloria Estenzo Ramos - Vice President of Oceana from Philippines, Minako Iue - Chief executive and Chair of Sailors for Sea from Japan, Essam Yassin Mohammed - Interim Director-General of WorldFish and acting Senior Director Aquatic Food Systems, CGIAR, and Dr. Mohd. Kushairi bin Mohd. Rajuddin – Executive Director of CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat.

The session discussed about the Asia-Pacific region as the largest producer of fish in the world. The variety of fisheries are many, ranging from small-scale fisheries to large enterprises, which some parts of the industry cause immense damage to ocean health through overfishing and other damaging practices. However, some players understand the need for sustainable growth and work closely with the local fishing communities.

Each speaker brought up interesting topics such as the innovations that enable sustainable practices, how fisheries adapt to use of technology, and best practices available for fish stock management. CTI-CFF delivered a topic around the roles of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) towards sustainable fisheries. Dr. Kushairi spoke about CTI-CFF works with the MPA Working Group that aims to establish new MPAs and to improve the management using Coral Triangle Marine Protected Area System (CTMPAS).