Abstract

Preparation of this document started with the appointment of a task team within the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, led by Manuel Barange (Director) and including Tarûb Bahri (Marine fisheries), Malcolm Beveridge (Aquaculture), Simon Funge-Smith (Inland fisheries), Ari Gudmundsson (Mitigation), Daniela Kalikoski (Poverty nexus), Florence Poulain (Adaptation), Stefania Vannuccini (Supply and demand evolution) and Sylvie Wabbes (Extreme events). The task team designed the draft contents of the Technical Paper, and took responsibility for structuring the different sections. At a later stage the task team took responsibility for commissioning and receiving reviews of the different chapters. The first workshop of technical experts took place in Rome, at the FAO headquarters on 28 to 29 July 2017, bringing together approximately 30 participants, many of whom were identified as leading contributors. The objectives of this workshop were to design the contents and objectives of a Technical Paper that would provide synthetic information aimed primarily at policymakers, fisheries managers and practitioners, with a view to assisting countries in the development of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and complementary needs. The different chapters were commissioned to international experts, who submitted their first drafts prior to the second workshop of technical experts, held also at FAO in Rome on 15 to 17 January 2018. All chapter leads attended the workshop. At the meeting the chapters were discussed and debated, and the adaptation strategies agreed upon. Extensive conversations were held to ensure consistency of format and messaging, and to identify gaps in knowledge and/or geographical coverage. The experts were then requested to revise and re-submit their drafts for final consideration, and additional chapters were also commissioned. All the chapters were peer-reviewed before being accepted (see Acknowledgements), and a technical editor (Professor Kevern Cochrane, Rhodes University, South Africa) was appointed to ensure consistency in the use of language and concepts. To ensure uncertainty statements were not only consistent but well-aligned to parallel endeavours, authors and editors were asked to be guided in their statements by the IPCC guidance note on the consistent treatment of uncertainties (Mastrandrea et al., 2010). Language editing, formatting and layout were provided by Dawn Ashby (Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK) and Claire Attwood and Wendy Worrall (Fishmedia, South Africa).