IIFET Conference 2024 Refocuses Blue Economy on Equitability

"If the blue economy is done well, it can really give us a lot of food, you know, sustainable food, it can give us food forever, we can achieve infinity fish, which is the idea that fish can give you a benefit to infinity, if you sum that, you get infinity benefit. So I like to say that fish is more valuable than diamonds. So the blue economy can really give us food, jobs and incomes. It's huge."

"So I think there's a lot of optimism and hope around the blue economy addressing food security. But I think there's also a lot of challenges. And I think that is particularly that the most vulnerable may be left behind. Because often, where we develop strategies to gain maximized skill benefits in the hope of increased growth, then it's often the most capable in societies that are able to take advantage of those opportunities. So I think it's really important that the blue economy makes sure that the most vulnerable are not left behind. And that in increasing the amount of food that we're producing, we're increasing it for the people who currently need it. And most not for those who are able to purchase it most readily."

"We need to make a shift, and to make sure that if we are to at all use the word blue economy, that it's people centered, and that is focused on the people who are dependent on the resources from the oceans and seas. And we must also take into consideration that it's not just material wealth that people are interested in. It's also very much cultural, very much religious and part of the everyday life. So it's a concept that needs to be broadened and to be more people centered.

"Blue economy is something that has to do with the entire sector, whether it is fisheries, aquaculture, but I would rather not restrict it to production, I would sort of expand the whole definition to make it more gender equitable, and more inclusive of reaching out to all the people in the value chain. Rather than focus on certain things like production and increasing production to feed our growing population. That's very, very important. But I think the larger dimensions of blue economy should be essentially, gender sensitive, gender responsive, and socially inclusive."

"Our planet consists mostly of water, it's in a way that the last boundary, the last frontier that is still there that we haven't really understood yet. And it's getting more and more pressure from different economic sectors. So it's really important that from the fisheries and aquaculture side, we make sure that the stakeholders that are involved in those sectors take part in the negotiations in the processes, also in receiving the funding around the blue economy developments and the blue transformation processes in the future. Because, again, aquatic foods are really at the heart of humanity, we need the food in order to do everything else."

"Blue economy is something that is being neglected. And you can see that only now people are realizing how important is that. That we're not just talking about how it contribute to the economy, but also to the sustainability because in terms of the percentage of catch has been decreasing, the size of the fish are getting smaller. People are complaining about not getting enough seafood in terms of safety and the quality. So I think blue economy is going to be something which is going to be a major topic. not only to the politicians to the policymaker, to the researchers but also to the public."