The purpose of the Consultation was to provide guidance to FAO regarding the development of guidelines for best practices to improve safety at sea in the fisheries sector. The Consultation also made recommendations regarding the scope of the guidelines, the special needs of developing countries, and other specific consideration and goals.

These guidelines have been produced to support implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries with regard to safety at sea in the fisheries sector. Their purpose is to enable relevant authorities to develop and implement strategies aimed at improved safety, health and conditions of service at sea in capture fisheries and aquaculture operations. They apply to all commercial fishing activities, as well as activities at sea within the aquaculture sector. Furthermore, the principles therein, may also be applied to vessels engaged in fisheries research. However, while these guidelines are not directed at sport and recreational activities carried out within the aquatic environment, administrations responsible for such sectors may well take note of the safety and health issues therein. The guidelines contribute to Strategic Objective 5: Increase the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises.

This publication contains the report of an expert meeting, held in Fiji in February 2004, organised to consider regional and national sea safety programmes, following on from a survey undertaken in 2003 in the Pacific Islands region. The survey highlighted the significant number of deaths in the region associated with small fishing boats which have received the least attention in terms of legislation, construction standards, enforcement strategies, regional discussions, training or proper use.

The issue of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in world fisheries is of serious and increasing concern. This document contains the report and papers presented a meeting of experts held in May 2000, which was organised by the Government of Australia in co-operation with the FAO. The preliminary draft international plan of action elaborated by the experts is appended to the report of the Consultation.

Recommendations made include the need: for a background study and consultation on the normative framework for fish trade and food security; for the preparation of technical guidelines on the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF), fish trade and food security; and better training to improve capacity of policy makers and technical personnel on international issues dealing with fish trade and food security.

The Thirty-fourth Session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) was held in Rome, Italy, from 1 to 5 February 2021. This is a report of the Session reflecting the discussions which took place and containing all recommendations and decisions taken by the Committee. A synopsis of the outcome of the Session is presented in the abstract and all supplementary information is included in the appendixes.