- MOF Jointly Hosts International Conference with Institutions including FAO to Share its Public-Private Joint Fishery Management Program -

 The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Minister: CHO Seung-Hwan) announced its plans to host an international conference to promote its public-private joint fishery management program for four days from November 29th (Tuesday) to December 1st (Thursday) at the Korea Maritime Institute in Busan.

 The international conference will be jointly hosted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Korea Maritime Institute, with more than 50 experts from academia, research institutes, international civil society organizations (CSO), and international NGOs engaged in fisheries across 10 nations, including Italy, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Senegal planning to participate both online and offline.

 MOF and FAO expect to further promote and spread fishermen-driven fisheries resource protection and management activities by sharing public-private joint fisheries management experiences to date through the international conference. The conference will introduce a handbook to assess the effectiveness of public-private joint fisheries management activities and share techniques to apply the approach at the frontlines of the fisheries sector.

 In particular, the speakers in the conference from the Korea Fisheries Association and the Joongwang Autonomous Fisheries Management Community of Seosan, Chungcheong-namdo, will share the current status of Korea's public-private joint fisheries management methodology, the so-called autonomously managed-fishing program*, and present some of the program’s best practices.

* A voluntary movement (started in 2001), where fishermen autonomously form communities, draft rules and codes that are aligned to the characteristics of each region, protect and manage fisheries resources, and adjust the production to improve their incomes.

 Deputy Minister Lee Gyeong-Gyu of the Fisheries Policy Office at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries commented, “the resource management policies jointly driven by the public and private sectors will enable us to overcome the tragedy of commonly shared goods that may arise in the fisheries resources sector.” He added, “the Ministry will continue to actively support the global promotion of our autonomously managed-fishing practices as a model approach in implementing fishermen-led resource management policies in other countries.”