Are fisheries important?

World Fisheries Day (21 November) is celebrated throughout the world by fishing communities. Dr Chris Barlow, Fisheries Research Program Manager with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), provides a few fisheries facts about Australia and nearby countries. Images in this post were extracted from ACIAR's Fisheries Program project profiles 2012 summary.

Fisheries is one program of work within ACIAR. Why fisheries? After all, when most of us in Australia think of fisheries, we think of recreational fishers—those brave souls who spend countless hours by the sea, rivers and lakes, catching (but most often not catching—at least that is my experience) fish.

A big Bass caught in Papua New Guinea

Sure, we have some commercial fisheries too, but their economic importance in Australia is much less than livestock and cropping. 

The importance of sweetpotatoes

"Did you know the humble sweetpotato is a member of the morning glory family and is not related to the common potato?"

...asks Elick Guaf. Elick is a senior scientist and agronomist at the Papua New Guinea (PNG) National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) and is involved in an ACIAR project to improve sweetpotato production.

Sweetpotato is one of the world's most important food crops and an important staple food in PNG. It is valuable in the diet of its 6.3 million people, with more than 60% producing this low-input crop.