Spain at the opening of the 37th session of the Committee on Fisheries of the Ernährungs- und Landwirtschaftsorganisation der Vereinten Nationen on 7 September 2026 in Rome reaffirmed its commitment to sustainable, competitive and future-ready fisheries and aquaculture. At the opening session, Spain’s Secretary-General for Fisheries, Isabel Artime, spoke and highlighted the sector’s importance for food security, employment in coastal areas and national value creation. She stressed that environmental protection measures must go hand in hand with economic stability and social protection for the communities concerned.
The Spanish delegation linked the overall goal of sustainable use to priority areas for action. These included promoting technological innovation in aquaculture, increasing the selectivity of fishing methods, measures to reduce losses and food waste, and improving governance along value chains. The government representative referred to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s international guidelines and recently updated national instruments intended to modernise funding frameworks and administrative procedures for fisheries and aquaculture.
The meeting COFI37, taking place in Rome from 7 to 11 September 2026, also features the presentation of the report Der Zustand der Weltfischerei und der Aquakultur 2026 (SOFIA 2026). According to Spain, national strategies should be closely aligned with the report’s recommendations and with multilateral cooperation in order to build more resilient, climate-adapted systems. This applies in particular to adapting to ocean warming and acidification, and to strengthening monitoring systems along supply chains.
Politically, Madrid frames the initiative within the European context. Spain points out that investment in selectivity, data collection and port infrastructure is intended to support the sector’s competitiveness while also contributing to the recovery of overfished stocks. The delegation emphasises the role of coastal communities and small-scale businesses, whose social protection and ability to attract new entrants are seen as prerequisites for a viable transition.
With its address at the opening of the Committee on Fisheries session, Spain is raising its profile in international fisheries policy. The success of the initiatives will be measured by the practical implementation of selectivity requirements, demonstrably lower bycatch and measurable progress in circular resource use at aquaculture facilities. In Rome, forecasts on timescales and budgets were left to the subsequent process.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).