FIRM/R772 (En)

Report on
DEEP SEA 2003, an International Conference on Governance and Management of DEEP-SEA Fisheries
Queenstown, New Zealand, 1 - 5 December 2003

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome, 2005

Table of Contents

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

FAO.
Report on DEEP SEA 2003, an International Conference on Governance and Management of Deep-Sea Fisheries. Queenstown, New Zealand 1 - 5 December 2003.
FAO Fisheries Report. No. 772. Rome, FAO. 2005. 84p.

ABSTRACT

The report describes (a) the reasons for the undertaking of DEEP SEA 2003, An International Conference on Governance and Management of Deep-Sea Fisheries, that was held in Queenstown, New Zealand from 30 November to 5 December 2003, (b) its agenda and structure, (c) the main conclusions of the Conference and (d), a prognoses for the future of deep-sea fisheries as seen by a selected group of expert participants. The report also documents a number of actions that the Conference participants, in general, believed needed to be addressed, many of them on an urgent basis, as a means to develop a global programme of future activities to address the problems associated with the management of deep-sea fisheries that had been identified and discussed.

DEEP SEA 2003, as a conference, embraced all disciplines and interests involved in deep-sea fishing - those of industry, governments, marine legal scholars, fisheries scientists, national and international environmental groups, academia and staff of regional fishery management and intergovernmental organizations. As such, the conference participants, representing individuals from 36 countries, represented a broad cross section of expertise and experience.

The Conference addressed issues relating to ecosystem biology; the protection of bio-diversity and conservation of deepwater fauna and their habitats; current knowledge of the population and fishery biology of the deepwater and slope fisheries resources; the needs of resource management including development of stock assessment techniques and evaluation of harvesting strategies; the technology and fishing tactics of deepwater fisheries; national, regional and international strategies and policies for governance of the deep seas; management protocols including the need for development of new international protocols and means of facilitating their implementation; and the identification of programmes for the implementation of the required strategies.

In addition to reporting on the events and outcomes of DEEP SEA 2003, this report describes the activities and discussions of four workshops that addressed topics of relevance to the Conference theme. These were held in Dunedin at the University of Otago, from 27 to 29 November, just prior to DEEP SEA 2003. These workshops addressed the following topics:

• Assessment and Management of Deepwater Fisheries
• Conservation and Management of Deepwater Chondrichthyan Fishes
• Management of Small-Scale Deepwater Fisheries and
• Marine Bioprospecting.

The first and third of these workshops were undertaken by the Fisheries Department of the FAO; the second Workshop was jointly undertaken by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK, the IUCN and the FAO. The Workshop on Bioprospecting was held under the aegis of the Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies, the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystem Cooperative Research Centre and the Centre for Law and Genetics, of the University of Tasmania. The outcomes of these workshops were reported to the DEEP SEA 2003 Conference as part of the summary proceedings.

This report will be complemented by a publication of the proceedings of the Conference in the FAO Fisheries Proceeding series.