67. The Workshop Representatives thanked FAO for arranging and convening the Workshop and also thanked the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for hosting it. They noted that the Workshop was timely coming shortly after the FAO VMS/MCS Workshop in July 2004. The Representatives stated that it was good to see most of the participants from that Workshop in attendance at this Workshop as this participation gave a sense of continuity.
68. With respect to the pre-Workshop arrangements, the Representatives stated that they had been very good in relation to the provision of the Agenda and the resource materials relevant to the IPOA-IUU and NPOA-IUU.
69. The Workshop Representatives noted that the informal approach adopted in the Workshop was positive as it encouraged participants to provide information based on their knowledge and experience during Plenary and Working Group Sessions as well as to interact more readily with fellow participants. In addition, the Representatives noted that the provision of background information that brought out the links between the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the IPOAs (management of sharks, fishing capacity, IUU fishing and seabirds), especially the IPOA-IUU, enabled participants to better appreciate the concepts and issues related to IUU fishing.
70. Concerning the working groups, the Workshop Representatives expressed the view that the "Galapagos Beauty" exercise was effective in getting over the concepts as they related to stateless vessels; coastal and port states roles and responsibilities; role of a RFMO; market-related measures, and the need for interagency coordination and international collaboration in curbing IUU fishing. The Representatives further noted that the NPOA-IUU exercise created an appreciation for the development of the NPOA-IUU with regards to the identification of the agencies involved, likely constraints and solutions, resource requirements and the likely sourcing, and the need to develop and implement the NPOA-IUU.
71. The Workshop Representatives added that the prioritization of IUU fishing issues and the required actions at the national and regional levels should further assist participants in developing their NPOAs-IUU as it provided some insights into the IUU fishing issues facing their respective countries; enabled the identification of priority issues common to countries and provided likely solutions to the issues at the national and regional levels.
72. With respect to the field trip, the Workshop Representatives stated that the visit to the transshipment facility was very relevant to the matters being addressed at the Workshop. The Directors of the facility were fairly open and frank in their responses to questions from participants. The Representatives thanked the Director of Fisheries for arranging this visit.
73. The Workshop Representatives concluded that perhaps too much time had been allocated to the working group sessions. They expressed appreciation for the contributions made by the FAO resource persons.
74. Concerning follow-up actions, the Representatives indicated that:
a cost/benefit analysis study of the operation of open registries might be valuable to the subregion;
assistance in the review and revision of legislation should be provided, and
continued technical assistance for the preparation of NPOAs-IUU through regional and/or national workshops should be encouraged.
