Åpningstale North Atlantic Seafood Forum 2012

Dear Ministers, officials and major seafood industry players from all over the world,

It is a pleasure once again to be able to speak at the opening of the North Atlantic Seafood Forum in Oslo! The NASF has proved itself to be a central meeting place for the global seafood industry.

This year the partnership with FAO brings in a new dimension, and I would like to welcome the African delegations from Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Ghana, Angola and South Africa.

Especially I would like to greet my colleagues, Minister Von-Mally from Mauritius and Minister Borges from Mozambique.
 
I am looking forward to talking with you during our lunch later this afternoon.

A swift look at the programme tells me why you have all come! The conference manages to combine market and innovation, finance and political issues. I will concentrate on the latter.

The world’s population recently turned 7 billion. By 2050 it is expected to increase to 9 billion individuals. Each and everyone will need food. Every day. This is a tremendous challenge. And it is a huge opportunity for the seafood industry.

Our common challenge is to enable our oceans on a long-term basis to provide as much seafood as possible.

The challenge demands responsible actions and intense effort from all parties involved in the world’s fisheries as well as aquaculture. It demands actions in three important areas:

1) Improved regulations – taking into account environmental, economic and social sustainability
2) More effective measures against illegal, unregulated and unreported fisheries
3) and not least: more knowledge concerning fisheries management

For a start we must make sure we get the food from our nearby seas to the dinner tables! Discard of fish is an absolute waste of food resources. Millions of meals and millions of Euros are literally thrown in to the sea every day. This is the consequence of inadequate fisheries regulations in the EU over decades.

As my slide illustrates, there is growing awareness of these matters in society at large and especially among politicians, NGOs and consumers.

Fortunately, as you will hear shortly, the proposed reform of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy aims to put an end to this wasteful practice.

The reform proposals signal a new direction for the EU and the common fisheries policy, and I fully support Commissioner Maria Damanaki’s efforts.
In my opinion the end of discards is the most pressing issue for our joint management efforts. The European Union and Norway have a common responsibility to manage joint stocks in the North Sea and in Skagerrak.

Last November – together with my collegues from Sweden and Denmark – I signed a joint declaration signalling the end of discards of fish in the waters of Skagerrak. This was a milestone in our efforts to ensure sustainable management of our joint marine resources.

I hope this will also have a positive impact on other waters, and that we are able to influence reforms in the right direction.

I am convinced that a discard ban in the EU-fisheries will be beneficial for the ecosystems, as well as for the fishing industries in the long run. Assuming, of course, that it is accompanied by adequate technical measures enabling fishermen to respect it.

As long as we share our planet, we also need to support the implementation of responsible management of fisheries and aquaculture worldwide. FAO plays a crucial role in these efforts, along with other multilateral and bilateral efforts.

Given our experiences, I believe Norway has the possibility to aid other countries in their efforts to develop better fisheries management.

Through development cooperation Norway has been engaged in African fisheries management since as far back as the 1960s. The bilateral cooperation has focused on research and management, with particular emphasis on monitoring, control and surveillance as well as combating illegal fishing.

The Research Vessel named after our most famous polar hero, marine scientist and humanitarian leader Fridtjof Nansen, has been an invaluable tool in this cooperation.

The future of Norwegian development cooperation is based on the agreed political goal of using one percent of the Gross National Income for this cause. My aim is that the fishery sector will continue to be an important part of this. It is no less than our duty.

Secondly, we need to become more effective in combating illegal fisheries.
Fisheries crime is a big problem globally. It constitutes a serious threat to fish stocks and marine ecosystems. And it destroys the livelihood for decent, respectable fishermen. To succeed in fighting illegal fishing, we have to use measures on many levels.

In the future, I believe that we must expect rules and regulations to become even stricter, and we must explore new paths of international cooperation, for example through INTERPOL.

Thirdly, we must build our management on robust, independent research. Further growth in the seafood industries is possible only if we have the knowledge to secure sustainable development.

Fishing nations worldwide must keep on investing in the continuous building of new knowledge on stocks and their ecosystems, and how they are affected by fisheries and other factors.

Knowledge and understanding are unique in the sense that they improve when they are shared. The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas is a good example of international collaboration providing scientific advice with high reliability.

I believe that the way forward is to strengthen marine research even more through increased international collaboration. This is why Norway together with other EU countries has proposed to develop a joint programming initiative on Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans, the so-called JPI-Oceans.

Investments in research and innovation are also at the heart of developing a competitive seafood industry. That, I believe, was thoroughly discussed during yesterday’s Marine innovation seminar.

Finally, I will congratulate you on putting sustainability and communication on the agenda tomorrow. The consumers are increasingly concerned that the fish on their plate is safe to eat and harvested or produced in a sustainable way. With a public debate tending to paint everything in black, it is more important than ever to be able to document that the fish in the supermarket is safe to eat and legally caught in a well managed fishery.

When sustainability and openness are guiding us it also becomes like a light shining before others! I’m proud of the way we manage our fisheries and aquaculture. On www.fisheries.no you will find more information about seafood safety, aquaculture- and fisheries management in Norway.

I hope that you will all have fruitful discussions and a pleasant stay in Oslo.

Thank you for your attention!