Analytical review of regional fishery bodies and arrangements

Geographical area coverage
Membership
Roles and responsibilities
Technical areas of concern

12. Considering the major regional issues which should be resolved in the next millennium to attain self-reliance of the countries therein in the sustainable development and management of their fisheries, concerted action is required. This present section provides an analytical review of the geographical area coverage, membership, roles and responsibilities. It also discusses technical areas of concern of APFIC and other regional bodies and arrangements in the Asia-Pacific region with the purpose of ascertaining the degree of overlapping between those of APFIC and other bodies and arrangements. The review is intended to facilitate consideration in the last chapter of how APFIC can operate in a more effective manner in the future.

Geographical area coverage

13. Marashi (1996)⁴ lists four international and regional fishery bodies (including APFIC) in the Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific area and ten in the Pacific Ocean that are concerned with the conservation and management of living resources of the high seas. These bodies are indicated in Table 1. One of these bodies, the Indian Ocean Fishery Commission (IOFC) was abolished by the FAO Council at its Hundred and Sixteenth Session in June 1999. In this connection, the Council further approved that the functions of the IOFC Committee for the Development and Management of Fisheries in the Bay of Bengal (BOBP) be absorbed by APFIC.

14. Pursuant to the Agreement establishing APFIC, the geographical area covered by the Commission is the Asia-Pacific area⁵. In practice, the areas covered by APFIC are FAO Statistical Area 04 for aquaculture and inland fisheries, and the Yellow Sea and its adjacent waters (the western part of Area 61), the South China Sea and its adjacent waters (the western part of Area 71) and the Bay of Bengal (the northern part of Area 57) for marine fisheries (Figure 1).

Figure 1. FAO statistical areas

15. Table 1 indicates that bodies with areas of competence overlapping those of APFIC are Indian Ocean: IOTC and WIOTO and Pacific Ocean: PICES, NPAFC, FFA and SPC. Only two members of APFIC are members of WIOTO, viz., India and Sri Lanka: the species covered by the WIOTO convention are restricted to tuna and tuna-like fishes in FAO Statistical Area 51. Four members of APFIC: China, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United States are members of PICES; however, the work of this organization focuses on North Pacific marine science issues, including research on El Nino, ocean climate and carrying capacity primarily in relation to salmon. NPAFC is outside the scope of APFIC and concerned mainly with salmonid fisheries in the northern Pacific. Consequently, WIOTO, PICES and NPAFC are excluded from consideration of overlapping areas with APFIC. Only IOTC, FFA and SPC are considered in more detail.

Table 1. International and regional fishery bodies which are concerned with the conservation and management of living resources of the high seas in the Indo-Pacific region

International/Regional Fishery Body		Acronym	Approximate FAO Statistical Areas
1. Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific area
	1.1 Indian Ocean Fishery Commission6	IOFC	51, 57
	1.2 Indian Ocean Tuna Commission	IOTC	51, 57
	1.3 Western Indian Ocean Tuna Organization	WIOTO	51
	1.4 Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission	APFIC	04, 51, 57, 61, & 71
2. Pacific Ocean
	2.1 North Pacific Marine Science Organization	PICES	67, and part of 61 & 77
	2.2 North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission	NPAFC	61, 67 & part of 77
	2.3 Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission	I-ATTC	77, 87
	2.4 Council of the Eastern Pacific Tuna Fishing Commission	CEPTFA	77, 87
	2.5 International Pacific Halibut Commission	IPHC	67
	2.6 Secretariat of the Pacific Community	SPC	71, 77
	2.7 South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency	FFA	71, 81
	2.8 Permanent South Pacific Commission	CPPS	87
	2.9 Pacific Salmon Commission	PSC	67

16. There are also a number of other bodies and arrangements that deal with certain aspects of fisheries development and management in the areas covered by APFIC, especially in the South China Sea and adjacent waters, several of which were recently established⁷. These bodies and arrangements (the list is not exhaustive) include:

• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
• Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
• International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM)
• Intergovernmental Organization for Marketing Information and Technical Advisory Services for Fishery Products in the Asia and Pacific Region (INFOFISH)
• Mekong River Commission (MRC)
• Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia and the Pacific (NACA)
• Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC)
• Southeast Asian Programme in Ocean Law, Policy and Management (SEAPOL)
• United Nations Environmental Programme - East Asian Seas Regional Coordinating Unit (UNEP-EAS/RCU)

17. The profiles of the above-mentioned bodies and arrangements, together with those of IOTC, FFA and SPC, are in Annex 3. Table 2 provides a summary of the species, geographical areas, membership, roles and responsibilities of APFIC and the bodies and arrangements referred to in the previous paragraph. Table 3 indicates the technical areas in the fisheries sector in which the bodies and arrangements extend technical cooperation or assistance to the countries in the region.

18. The geographical areas covered by these bodies and arrangements vary according to their conventions or agreements. The area covered by APFIC, APEC, INFOFISH, NACA, and SEAPOL is roughly the Asia-Pacific. ASEAN and SEAFDEC are concerned only with the Southeast Asian seas, e.g. the South China Sea and adjacent waters. The areas covered by SPC are the Western (excluding the South China Sea) and the Central Pacific Ocean and by SPC/FFA, the Western Central Pacific (excluding the South China Sea) and the South Pacific Ocean. UNEP/EAS covers the waters of the Northwest Pacific Ocean, the South China Sea and adjacent waters and Australian Seas (East Asian Seas). IOTC’s area of competence is confined to the Indian Ocean. The area coverage of ICLARM is global, whilst that of MRC is confined to the Lower Mekong Basin.

Membership

19. Table 2 indicates that the memberships of SPC and FFA are distinct from those of the other bodies/arrangements because the majority of their members are developing island countries of the Western Central Pacific and South Pacific. Of the 26 members of SPC, developed countries, namely, Australia, New Zealand, U.K. and U.S.A., are concurrently members of APFIC. Of the 16 members of FFA, only Australia and New Zealand are members of APFIC. These developed countries have provided substantial technical and financial contributions to SPC and FFA. They have played a minor role in APFIC in recent years. One developing island State in the Western Central Pacific (Papua New Guinea) is a member of APEC, whilst two, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands are members of INFOFISH.

Table 2. List of key bodies and arrangements established to promote rational development and management of fisheries and aquaculture in the Asia-Pacific region. (This is not an exhaustive list.)

Acronym	Regional Body/Arrangement	Year founded	Species	Geographical area	Members	Role and responsibilities
APFIC	Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission	1948	Various species	Asia-Pacific area including inland waters of its Members	Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea (Rep. of), Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UK, USA, Vietnam.	- Promote cooperation in fisheries development and management amongst its Members including policy and planning; - Promote and advise on fishery research and exchange of information and statistics; and - Promote post-harvest technology development.
APEC/FWG	Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation	1989	Various species	Asia-Pacific region	Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Japan, Korea (Rep. of), Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan Province of China, Thailand, USA and Vietnam.	- Promote conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources and sustainable aquaculture; - Enhance food safety/quality of fish products; and - Promote trade liberalization, investment and facilitation of trade.
ASEAN	Association of South East Asian Nations	1967	Various species	Southeast Asia	Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.	- Promote cooperation in the optimum utilization of the fishery resources on the region and in the management of shared fishstocks; and - Promote intra & extra-ASEAN trade of fish and fishery products.
ICLARM	International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management	1977	Various species	Global	One of the 16 centres of CGIAR. Work done in partnership with institutions in developing countries.	- Contribute, through basic research, to food security and poverty eradication; - Promote sustainable development and use of living aquatic resources based on environmentally sound management.
IOTC	Indian Ocean Tuna Commission	1996	Tuna & tuna-like fishes	Indian Ocean and adjacent areas	Australia, China, Eritrea, the European Community, France, India, Japan, Korea (Rep. of), Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, UK.	- Promote cooperation amongst Members to ensure the conservation and optimum use of tunas & tuna-like fishes, through appropriate management; and - Encourage sustainable development of fisheries on such stocks.
INFOFISH	Intergovernmental Organization for Marketing Information and Technical Advisory Service for Fishery Products in the Asia and the Pacific Region	1985	Various species	Asia-Pacific region	Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Korea (DPR), Malaysia, Maldives, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand. (Associate membership open to private sector.)	- Contribute to a more balanced supply of fishery products to contracting parties; - Promote development of the fishing industries taking full advantage of the potential offered by the fishery resources of the contracting parties; - Promote export opportunities; and - Promote TCDC.
MRC	Mekong River Commission	1995	Various freshwater & brackishwater species	Lower Mekong Basin	Cambodia, Lao DPR, Thailand and Vietnam.	- Promote cooperation in the sustainable development, utilization, management and conservation of the water and related resources in the Mekong River Basin for the multiple use and mutual benefit of all riparians.
NACA	Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia and the Pacific	1990	Various cultured species (in tropical and sub-tropical waters)	Asia-Pacific region, covering tropical, sub-tropical waters	Members: Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Korea (DPR), Hong Kong SAR, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam Participating governments: Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Iran, Korea (Rep. of), Japan and Singapore.	- Assist its Members in accelerating aquaculture development through TCDC in order to improve food security, rural income and better economies.
SPC	The Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Marine Resources Division	1947	Coral reef fish and pelagic fishery resources including tunas, bill fishes and related species	South Pacific, Western Central Pacific	American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated State of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Northern Mariannas, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie & Oeno, French Polynesia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna, Australia, New Zealand, UK, USA.	- Provide Members with scientific information and advice necessary to rationally manage fisheries exploiting the region’s resources of tuna, billfish and related species; and - Provide support services to Pacific islanders to optimize the social and economic value of small-scale fisheries and aquatic resources in the waters of the members.
FFA	South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency	1979	All species, in particular highly migratory species, e.g. tunas and billfishes	Central & Western Pacific Ocean	Australia, Cook Islands Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.	- Assist Members in the conservation and optimum utilization of the species covered by the Convention; - Promote regional cooperation and coordination of fisheries policies; and - Facilitate collection, analysis, evaluation and dissemination of scientific information and data for the Members.
SEAFDEC	Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center	1968	All species	Southeast Asian Waters (the South China Sea and adjacent waters)	Brunei Darussalam, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.	- Contribute to the promotion of fisheries development in Southeast Asia by mutual cooperation amongst its Members and through collaboration with international organizations and governments external to the Center; - Promote sustainable development of aquaculture and marine fisheries as well as the development of post-harvest technology, through research, training and information exchange.
SEAPOL	Southeast Asian Programme in Ocean Law, Policy Management	1981	Marine resources	Asia-Pacific region, with special emphasis on Southeast Asia	More than 400 associates of officials and experts specialized in marine affairs from Canada and countries in the Asia-Pacific region.	- Promote regional and subregional cooperation in various aspects of marine affairs, in particular, legal, policy and management issues related to sustainable use of the living resources in Southeast Asia and the Pacific region.
UNEP/EAS/ RCU	United Nations Environmental Programme - East Asian Seas Regional Coordinating Unit	1991	Various species	Waters of Australia, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Korea (Rep. of), Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam (East Asian Seas)	Australia, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Korea (Rep. of), Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.	- Foster cooperation and capacity building to achieve the common objective of conserving, managing and restoring the coastal environment of the East Asian Sea, through the coordination and implementation of the COBSEA Action Plan.

20. IOTC’s membership comprises some of the countries in the northwest and southwest Indian Ocean regions, the European Community and 11 members of APFIC (Australia, China, France, India, Japan, Korea (Rep. of), Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the United Kingdom). Eleven members of APFIC (Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea (Rep. of), Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam) are also members of APEC.

21. NACA membership, including participating countries (not full members), is not much different from that of APFIC. With the exception of Brunei Darussalam, Laos, and Singapore, the other members of ASEAN are also members of APFIC. Likewise, the majority of the members of MRC and SEAFDEC are also members of APFIC.

22. It is interesting to note that the major fishing countries in the region which are members of APFIC, i.e. China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are either members or participants in many of the aforementioned other international and regional bodies.

Roles and responsibilities

23. The main role of these regional bodies and arrangements is similar, i.e. to promote cooperation amongst their individual members in the conservation and rational development of fisheries and aquaculture. Each body has specific responsibilities:

(i) APEC is responsible for facilitating and enhancing liberalization in trade, including the trade of fish and fishery products;

(ii) ASEAN promotes sustainable use of the resources, particularly in the exclusive economic zones of its members and encourages intra and extra-ASEAN trade;

(iii) MRC is responsible for promoting cooperation in the sustainable use of the fishery resources and aquaculture development in the Lower Mekong Basin;

(iv) NACA’s responsibilities include the acceleration of aquaculture development through technical cooperation amongst developing countries (TCDC) to improve food security, rural income and better the economies of its Members;

(v) SEAPOL’s role is to assist the countries in the region to better understand the implications of UNCLOS and related instruments and initiatives through interpretation of pending issues thereof, as well as to promote cooperation in various aspects of marine affairs, including policy harmonization; and

(vi) SPC provides scientific information and advice necessary to rationally manage the member countries’ fisheries, especially highly migratory tuna, billfish and related species. It also provides support to its developing member States so that they can obtain sustained benefits from their small-scale fisheries.

Technical areas of concern

24. On the basis of a classification of the technical areas of concern into (i) main concern, (ii) general concern, (iii) less concern and (iv) no concern (Table 3), it was possible to list 19 technical subjects in the following order according to priority: (1) fisheries information and statistics; (2) fisheries management; (3) environment and ecology; (4) marine fisheries development; (5) applied fishery research; (6) fishery policy and planning; (7) fishery legislation/global instruments and initiatives; (8) capacity building/training; (9) integrated coastal area management; (10) brackishwater culture and mariculture; (11) socio-economic aspects of fisheries development; (12) small-scale fisheries development; (13) monitoring, control and surveillance of fisheries; (14) post-harvest technology development; (15) marketing and trade; (16) freshwater aquaculture; (17) strategic and basic research; (18) inland fisheries development; and (19) strengthening of extension services.

25. This review indicates that the priority of the technical areas of concern is generally in line with the current interest of the world community regarding the sustainable development and management of fisheries and aquaculture, including consideration of ecology and environmental protection.

26. Table 3 and Annex 3 also indicate that those bodies which have a wide range of activities in fisheries development and management similar to APFIC are: APEC, ASEAN, ICLARM, SPC, FFA and SEAFDEC. It is inevitable that there exist some overlapping in the activities amongst these bodies and arrangements. Nevertheless, because of the differences in the areas of competence and membership between APFIC and SPC as well as FFA, it may be considered that there are no overlapping activities amongst these bodies. Likewise, there is no gross duplication of work between APFIC and IOTC because the technical area of primary concern of the latter is highly migratory species in the Indian Ocean. ICLARM, under the CGIAR, is concerned mainly with strategic research aimed at the sustainable development and rational management of living aquatic resources at the global level. Its work should compliment that of APFIC with little duplication of effort. Because of the specialized technical areas of INFOFISH, MRC, NACA and SEAPOL, it is believed that these bodies also have little overlapping with APFIC. On the other hand, it is felt that the wide-ranging activities of APEC, ASEAN and SEAFDEC may duplicate those of APFIC to a large degree.

27. The above review points to the need for regular consultations amongst the key organizations in the region with the objective of reducing the duplication of effort and rationalization of the use of the limited funds available for the fisheries sector. APFIC has recommended such consultations at several of its sessions. The informal consultation between the Secretariats of APFIC, ASEAN and SEAFDEC in 1994 and the consultation between regional bodies and interested donors organized by the Asian Fisheries Society (AFS) in cooperation with APFIC and SEAFDEC in 1998 were felt to be useful by the participants as they learned of each other’s activities and how funds were being used.

Table 3. Technical areas of concern of the key bodies/arrangements in the Asia-Pacific region

Body/ Arrangement

APFIC

APEC

ASEAN

ICLARM

IOTC

INFOFISH

MRC

NACA

SPC

SP/FFA

SEAFDEC

SEAPOL

UNEP/EAS

Subject

Marine capture fisheries development

A

C

B

B

A

B

D

D

A

A

A

B

B

Inland capture fisheries development

A

D

C

C

D

C

A

C

D

D

D

D

D

Freshwater aquaculture

A

B

B

B

D

B

A

A

C

D

C

D

D

Brackishwater and mariculture

A

A

B

A

D

B

B

A

B

C

A

D

B

Fisheries management

A

B

A

A

A

B

A

B

A1

A2

B

B

B

MCS

B

B

A

C

A

C

B

D

D

A

C

B

C

Integrated coastal area management

B

B

B

A

C

B

C

B

C

A

B

B

B

Environment/ecology

C

A

C

A

B

B

B

A

B

A

B

A

A

Post-harvest technology development

A

A

A

D

D

A

C

C

D

B

A

D

D

Marketing/trade

C

A

A

C

C

A

C

C

B

B

C

C

D

Information & statistics

A

B

C

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

B

B

Fishery research (applied)

B

B

C

A

A

C

B

A

A

B

B

B

B

Fishery research (strategic & basic)

D

D

D

A

C

D

C

C

B

B

C

C

D

Capacity building/training

B

B

B

B

B

B

A

B

A

B

A

B

C

Extension

C

D

D

D

D

D

A

C

C

C

B

D

D

Legislation/global instruments

B

B

B

C

B

B

B

B

D

B

B

A

A

Socio-economic & women in development

B

B

B

A

B

B

A

B

A

B

B

C

C

Small-scale fisheries

A

C

A

B

B

B

A

C

A

B

B

C

C

Policy/planning

B

B

B

B

B

B

A

B

B

B

B

A

B

Note:

A = main concern
B = general concern
C = less concern
D = no concern

¹ Reef fishery only
² Tuna fisheries only