29. FAO consultant, Mr Brown, elaborated on the technical guidelines on IUU fishing in the context of IUU fishing issues in the Pacific Islands region. He noted that the region, for example, had already developed a number of cooperative mechanisms to combat IUU fishing including the Regional Register of Foreign Fishing Vessels that was maintained by the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the Niue Treaty that provided for countries to undertake joint and reciprocal surveillance and enforcement activities.
30. Participants discussed the approach that Pacific Island countries had developed concerning fisheries management in the region and noted that obligations with respect to flag State and port State measures had increased in importance with the entry into force of the Convention for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. Participants acknowledged that regional cooperation, particularly with respect to information exchange, was critically important to the successful management of shared fish stocks in the Pacific Islands region.
