The report describes (a) the reasons for convening 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) the agenda and structure of the conference, (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 experts. The report also documents a
number of actions that the 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 that had been identified
and discussed.
In addition to reporting on the events and outcomes of DEEP
SEA 2003, this report provides reports from four workshops that addressed topics
of relevance to the Conference theme. These were held concurrently and just
prior to DEEP SEA 2003 in Dunedin at the University of Otago, 27 - 29 November
2003. These workshops addressed the following topics: (a) Assessment and
Management of Deepwater Fisheries, (b) Conservation and Management of Deepwater
Chondrichthyan Fishes, (c) Management of Small-Scale Deepwater Fisheries and
(d), Marine Bioprospecting. This report will be complemented by a publication of
the proceedings of the Conference in the FAO Fisheries Proceeding
Series.
