The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Peru’s National Fisheries Society (SNP) have signed an inter-institutional cooperation agreement to generate scientific information that will allow the fishing sector to be better prepared to face climate change.
The two institutions will look to develop and implement observation, prediction, and early warning systems related to climate change via the collection and systematization of information in the fishing sector, SNP announced in a release. The agreement, signed in the context of the 2019 U.N. Climate Change Conference, is to last three years and aims to influence public policy by promoting the implementation of rights-based fishery management for both major national fishing firms and artisanal fisheries.
“Climate change is a reality and the fishing sector is no stranger to its impact. As such, it is important for us to prepare efficiently face it … To develop management tools that incorporate climate impacts in the country’s main fisheries and thus improve the resilience of the ecosystem and strengthen the adaptive management of species,” SNP President Cayetana Aljovín said.
In turn, the senior manager for EDF Oceans in Peru, Samuel Amorós, noted that Peru is vulnerable to climate change, which could generate variations in the distribution and biomass of resources, increasing uncertainty in fisheries management. He called for urgent participation and commitment from all parties to respond.
EDF employs science for evidence-based advocacy and economic incentives to address environmental threats, in a bid to stabilize the climate, feed the world, and protect health. With partnerships that range from farmers to Fortune 500 firms, it has more than 2.5 million members and a staff of 700 scientists, economists, policy specialists, and other experts from around the world.
Last month, SNP signed a memorandum of understanding with IFFO RS for the former to provide industry input to ensure that IFFO RS schemes are robust and up-to-date, for the standard to further expand and to work collectively to protect the industry’s reputation.
Photo courtesy of the Environmental Defense Fund
