Nominations are now invited for the Margarita Lizárraga Award for the biennium 2008-2009.

The Award pays tribute to Ms Margarita Lizárraga, a Mexican national and an officer in the Fisheries Department at the time of her passing away in 1997, and is presented biennially to a person or organization that has served with distinction in the application of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries of FAO. More

The African Water Resource Database (AWRD) -- a set of data and custom-designed tools, combined in a geographic information system (GIS) analytical framework aimed at facilitating responsible inland aquatic resource management with a specific focus on inland fisheries and aquaculture -- is now available on the internet at http://www.fao.org/fishery/gisfish/id/2389 or upon request to FAO/FIMA in a set of two DVD's or ten CD-ROMs. Please consult the link below or contact us at FI-inquiries@fao.org for copies and further information.

The FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department Technical Paper, Monitoring and managing queen conch fisheries: a manual, is now online. The publication presents guidelines on the requirements for responsible management of the fisheries exploiting Caribbean queen conch (Strombus gigas), with particular emphasis on the requirements to comply with the relevant regulations of the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It also provides three examples of management systems for industrial, artisanal and non-directed fisheries.

New World Bank - FAO report reveals "the sunken billions"
Economic losses in marine fisheries resulting from poor management, inefficiencies, and overfishing add up to a staggering US$50 billion per year, according to a new World Bank-FAO report released today. Taken over the last three decades, these losses total over $US2 trillion, a figure roughly equivalent to the GDP of Italy.

Countries agree on guidelines for protecting deep-sea species and habitats.
After two years of preparation and negotiation, FAO Members have adopted international guidelines aimed at limiting the impact of fishing on fragile deep sea fish species and habitats.

The guidelines provide a framework that fishing nations should use when operating in high-seas areas outside of national jurisdictions, where many deep sea fisheries (DSF) are located.

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement among governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants -- including aquatic species -- does not threaten their survival. FAO and CITES have been working closely to deal with some of the technical difficulties faced by countries in fulfilling the requirements of a CITES listing.

A recent FAO Fisheries Technical Paper on the role of industry in the governance and management of fisheries is now available online. Case studies in fisheries self-governance documents 32 case studies and four syntheses (Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States of America) drawn from ongoing practices in Europe, North America, Japan and Australasia. These case studies are intended to inform and provide potential models that may be used in other fisheries.

The Database on Port State Measures (Port-Lex) is now available online. Port-Lex provides free access to port state measures adopted by FAO member countries to fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The database is also available in French and Spanish.

International commerce in fishery products now worth US$92 billion a year

Improved feed management strategy, including the use of optimal combinations of fertilizers, feed ingredients and manufactured feeds, could lower costs and optimize production of aquatic species.