Background paper on the International Seafood Trade and Poverty

Abstract

This report provides an overview of the international seafood trade and poverty, with special reference to the trade in some selected marine products between Asia and the European Union. It represents Output 1 of the project \"The International Seafood Trade: supporting sustainable livelihoods among poor aquatic resource users in Asia\". Trade in both edible and ornamental marine species, if structured and controlled equitably, represents an important weapon in the war against poverty and in helping to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals set by the Millennium Summit of 2000, to halve many of the world's ills, including poverty, by 2015.

The objectives of the report are to give an overview of the trade in marine products between Asia and the European Union, with particular focus on shrimp from Vietnam to the UK and BeNeLux countries and of marine ornamental species from Indonesia and the Philippines to the UK and France. Trade between these countries of these products is planned to be the main focus of the project and of case studies to be completed to identify pro-poor trade options.

The overview includes: (i) a description of seafood market supply chains and trade volumes; (ii) the policy and institutional contexts relating to trade and poverty reduction, at global, regional and national levels, and their implications for poverty reduction; (iii) ongoing trade initiatives aimed at poverty reduction; and (iv) some initial ideas about pro-poor trade initiatives to be explored by the project.

Citation

Output 1 Background paper on the International Seafood Trade and Poverty, Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd (UK), Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific and STREAM Initiative, i + 120 pp.

Background paper on the International Seafood Trade and Poverty

Published 1 January 2003