Food Security in Southeast Asia: Why Fish are Key

Please join us for a panel discussion highlighting the benefits of sustainable fisheries development in U.S. food security policy towards Southeast Asia. The panel will feature Dr. Roger Pulwarty, Physical Scientist and Director, National Integrated Drought Information System, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Dr. Barbara Best, Senior Coastal Resource Management and Policy Specialist, U.S. Agency for International Development, and Mr. Blane Olson, Owner, Anova Holding USA, LLC. Ms. Johanna Nesseth Tuttle, Director, Global Food Security Project, CSIS, will provide opening remarks, and Mr. Ted Osius, Senior Visiting State Department Fellow, CSIS, will moderate.

Historically, U.S. food security policy has focused on grain, ignoring fish protein as an important opportunity to engage the nations of Southeast Asia. Fish provide up to 60 percent of the protein consumed in Southeast Asia, making unsustainable practices in coastal and pelagic fisheries a grave threat to regional food security. Using Indonesia as an example, this discussion will highlight how U.S. relations with key regional partners would benefit from including fish in U.S. food security policies.

Please RSVP not later than Friday January 11, 2013 to the Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies. Please follow this link for a report on fisheries in Indonesia that will serve as a case study for next week’s discussion.