Amid signs of a serious looming shortfall in the global fish catch, policy makers, marine scientists, fishing industry leaders and non-governmental organisations from around 40 countries will gather in Malaysia on 3 November to begin a campaign to make fish a priority issue on the international environment and development agenda.
Hosted by the WorldFish Centre in Penang, the one-day summit will inaugurate a decade-long effort dedicated to raising awareness of fisheries issues and improving multilateral co-operation and information sharing, creating an important new international forum to air and resolve fisheries issues.
With a steering committee chaired by Professor M.S. Swaminathan, UNESCO Chair of Ecotechnology, and including the Prime Minister of Malaysia and the President of Nigeria, the Fish for All Summit is funded by Australia, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Bangladesh, the Crawford Fund, the University of Canberra and the World Wildlife Fund.
"The recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg set the goal of restoring depleted world fisheries by 2015. The Fish For All Summit in Penang marks the start of the route for reaching that target," said Dr Meryl Williams, director-general of the WorldFish Centre.
World Bank vice-president Ian Johnson, Chair of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), will provide the keynote address.
"The goal of the Fish For All initiative is to create a neutral international forum in which to resolve difference related to this vast, invaluable resource," said Williams. "We also aim to move world leaders and their governments to establish more sustainable environmental practices along the world's rivers and coastlines, and in its lakes, seas and oceans."
Summit participants will establish the specific topics of future analyses, activities and discussions in the ongoing Fish for All Initiative. Additional details are online at www.fishforall.org