On June 27, we celebrate the World Fisheries Day. The celebration was established by the World Conference on Fisheries in 1984. Its aim is to draw attention to the problem of overexploitation of the natural resources of the seas and oceans. In 1995, the FAO developed the Code of Responsible Fisheries, adopted by over 100 countries around the world, including the largest fishing powers such as Norway, the USA, India, China and Poland. The Code is fully compliant with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Cancun Declaration (1992), and other international documents on global fisheries. The Code has become the basic document on fisheries and a reference point, inter alia, for the Common Fisheries Policy of the EU, as well as fisheries management by particular countries or organizations.
Warto w tym miejscu przypomnieć, że National Marine Fisheries Research Institute miał w tworzeniu Kodeksu swój niekwestionowany udział. Były dyrektor instytutu dr Zbigniew Karnicki uczestniczył w roku 1992 w Konferencji Odpowiedzialnego Rybołówstwa w Cancun w Meksyku i przewodniczył bardzo trudnym negocjacjom Komitetu Redakcyjnego opracowującego Deklarację z Cancun, którą po zatwierdzeniu przez Konferencję Prezydent Meksyku przedstawił na tzw. Szczycie Ziemi w Rio de Janerio. The declaration obliged the FAO to develop the Code of Responsible Fisheries and was de facto its beginning and in the following years, as the FAO employee, Dr. Karnicki participated in the development of the text of the Code.
The Code and the principles it contains are up to date and in practice it is not necessary to develop new documents but only to adopt and effectively implement the provisions of the Code.
