JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has been elected to chair the 36th session of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s fisheries committee to be held in Rome in 2024. Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture officials noted that the 126-member-state committee voted unanimously for the Kingdom in recognition of its leading role in supporting international efforts to promote sustainable fishing and aquaculture. The ministry has spent years working to boost the fisheries sector, establishing a national program to protect fish stocks and the industry as a whole. Help has included the provision of concessional loans to assist small-scale fishermen with the purchase of boats, along with initiatives to modernize fishing ports in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf. The national program has so far helped to increase exports of farmed products to more than 35 countries. It has also operated specialized centers in Saudi Arabia and internationally and supported the establishment of cooperative societies to promote sustainable fishing management practices among sector workers. In addition, the ministry has backed coastal rural development schemes and promoted aquaculture, the controlled cultivation of fish and other aquatic organisms. Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, Saudi permanent representative to FAO, will chair the 36th session of the fisheries committee, with vice chairs from New Zealand, the US, Norway, Chile, Malaysia, and Senegal. The committee on fisheries is an intergovernmental forum where the organization’s members meet to review and examine issues and challenges of fisheries and aquaculture. It was established in 1965 and consists of the sub-committees on aquaculture, and the fish trade.