Title

1st Community-based Fisheries Dialogue

The 4th Regional Technical Meeting on Coastal Fisheries and Aquaculture (RTMCFA4) was the first meeting to include the Community-Based Fisheries Dialogue (CBFD) session convened by and focused on Civil Society Organisation (CSO) and other Non-State Actor (NSA) participation.

The CBFD was held as a virtual meeting on 13 October 2021. As the first CBFD session, it was facilitated by an independent convenor, Kesaia Tabunakawai from Fiji, with at least 38 representatives of the CSO and other NSA groups engaged in plenary and breakout group discussions. There were over 105 participants in the CBFD session, including representatives of government agencies and other observers.

The purpose of the CBFD was to provide the CSO and NSA community with an opportunity to provide information, advice and key needs, through the RTMCFA, to Heads of Fisheries to assist with informing Leaders on priority issues and needs associated with the sustainable use of coastal fisheries resources. It also provided an opportunity to share experiences and lessons from community-based initiatives to strengthen efforts to maintain productive and healthy ecosystems and their associated fisheries resources that are critical to the wellbeing of coastal communities.