WORKSHOP CLOSURE

ANNEX I

AGENDA OF THE REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON " MANAGING FISHING CAPACITY AND IUU FISHING IN ASIA"
Phuket, Thailand, 13–15 June 2007

ANNEX IIA

WELCOME REMARKS OF DR SOMYING, DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES, THAILAND

On behalf of the Department of Fisheries of Thailand, I would like to extend our warmest welcome and sincere appreciation to all of you here in Phuket. It is indeed a great pleasure to welcome you to the APFIC Regional Workshop on Managing Fishing Capacity and IUU Fishing in Asia.

This workshop is timely organized as we are all aware that fisheries have yet been sustainably managed. Many fish stocks are over-utilized. Fishing capacity and fishing effort exceeds the suitable level for resource sustainability. The illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing practices, apart from undermining our management measures, even further create threats and prevent the opportunity to reverse present practices to sustainable and responsible fisheries. These issues create a challenging task for all of us to establish collective actions for responsible fishing practices including mechanisms to reduce overcapacities, to combat IUU fishing and to ensure that fishery resources are utilized in a sustainable manner. The regional measures shall be based on the concepts stipulated in the international legal instruments and initiatives, including the International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and International Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity.

Thailand has a strong concern on the work to ensure vessel reduction and to curb the IUU fishing. A couple meetings were organized this year to formulate the national master plan for management of marine capture fisheries. Additionally, we are implementing the strategic actions to reduce the number of trawlers and push netters in the Gulf of Thailand. You may have a chance hear this issue in more details from the Thai participant.

Last but not least, I wish the workshop every success and look forward to an agreed action plan to address the issues that necessarily involves cooperation and partnership of all APFIC members, regional fishery bodies and other partners. I hope you have a pleasant stay in Phuket. I hope you explore and enjoy the beautiful sceneries and the beauty of Phuket.

Thank you for your attention

ANNEX IIB

OPENING STATEMENT OF THE CHAIR OF APFIC TO THE WORKSHOP

First of all, I would like to inform you that our APFIC Chair, Professor Widi Pratikto, would like to apologise for not being able to chair the meeting as he has an urgent international commitment in Europe this week. However, he welcomes all participants to the APFIC Regional Workshop on Managing Fishing Capacity and IUU Fishing in Asia.

I would also like to make some comments on the state of fisheries and IUU fishing in particular in the region and in Indonesia there are an increasing tendency of overcapacity and IUU fishing in our region (also in Indonesia). We have a number of shared stocks that need to be managed collaboratively among countries in the region and some problem of IUU fishing also need to be solved through regional cooperation. There is a need a common and collaborative approach to manage fishing capacity and to combat IUU fishing in the region. Therefore, we support APFIC's endeavours to improve the management of fishing capacity and combat IUU fishing.

One regional initiative of regional collaborative effort to promote responsible fishing practices, including management of fishing capacity, and combating IUU fishing has been undertaken by ten countries consisting of Indonesia, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam by formulating "Regional Plan of Action to Promote Responsible Fishing Practices including Combating IUU Fishing in the Region". This RPOA has been endorsed by the Ministers responsible for fisheries of those ten countries during "Regional Ministerial Meeting on Promoting Responsible Fishing Practices including Combating IUU Fishing in the Region" held in Bali, Indonesia, on 4^th May 2007. We would like to distribute the RPOA and joint ministerial statement.

Finally, we would like to extend a welcome to APFIC Executive Committee Members to the 71^st Session of the ExCo to be held in Jakarta 20–22 August 2007 and the next Regional Consultative Forum meeting and 30^th Session of APFIC to be held in Indonesia in 2008.

ANNEX IIC

OPENING STATEMENT OF THE ACTING SECRETARY OF APFIC

As the Acting Secretary of the Asia-Pacific Fisheries Commission (APFIC), I welcome you all to the APFIC "Regional Workshop on Managing Fishing Capacity and IUU in Asia". Regional inter-sessional workshops on issues considered to be of major regional importance to the Commission have now become part of the Commission's biennial work plans. As well as this workshop there will be a second one on
"Fish Trade" to be held in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam in September 2007. The recommendations coming from these two workshops will be further considered the APFIC biennial Consultative Forum Meeting and subsequent Commission session to be held in 2008, in Indonesia. Unlike in the past the Commission is encouraging the participation of its partners and the non-governmental organizations much more in its business and it is encouraging to see many of our partners here today. A special welcome to our partners.

During the workshop, you will be hearing and discussing several issues that all point to a major crisis occurring in the fisheries of many APFIC Member States. Rapid development of the fisheries during the 1970s and 80s has resulted, in many cases, in fisheries where the resource base has been severely depleted and the potential benefits from the fisheries are not being realized. Apart from a few wealthy investors, most people involved in fisheries are close to the poverty border line and do not gain much benefit from their activities. There are, therefore, many questions over the sustainability of these fisheries, as well as socio-economic and ethical concerns. The objective of the workshop is to take stock of where Asian fisheries are today and to chart out a future where fisheries can contribute much more significantly to the sustainable development of APFIC Member States. In preparing for this workshop, it became obvious that there are many gaps in our knowledge about what is happening in many Asian fisheries and a lack of information sharing about problem that are shared across the Members. I thank those Members who took the time to provide us with information through filling out our questionnaire and I encourage those who have not yet done so to complete them as soon as possible so that their information can be included in our regional overview.

Three days is not a long time to come up with solutions to the huge problems confronting fisheries in Asia today, but I would like to see a fairly well formulated action plan emerge from the workshop. I know you will all contribute constructively to achieve this goal. Most importantly we need a commitment to change the way that we have been managing fisheries in the past and a concerted effort to bring about those changes. APFIC, FAO and our partners are here to help you make these changes.

I would just like to take this opportunity at the outset to thank everyone who has enthusiastically contributed to what, I am sure, will be a very successful workshop.

Thank you.

ANNEX III

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

ANNEX IV

Management tool box with notes on duration of impact, direct and longer-term effects

Source: FAO (2004).

ANNEX V

Regional Plan of Action (RPOA) to Promote Responsible Fishing Practices including Combating IUU Fishing in the Region⁶

Contents

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⁶ Republic of Indonesia, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam.

Regional Plan of Action (RPOA) to Promote Responsible Fishing Practices including Combating IUU Fishing in the Region

Introduction

1. Fishing activity makes an important contribution to the food security and economic well-being of the region. However, increases in overexploitation and illegal fishing practices, have hastened the depletion of many fish stocks. For this reason, fishery resources must be managed sustainably, and responsible fishing practices need to be promoted.
2. Regional cooperation is critical for the long-term sustainable protection of the living marine resource and the marine environment. Whilst some of the root causes of the depletion of fisheries resources can be addressed at the national level, many can only be successfully addressed through regional action. This is particularly the case in the areas with interdependent marine ecosystems, adjoining maritime boundaries and shared fish stocks.

Objective and framework

3. The objective of this RPOA is to enhance and strengthen the overall level of fisheries management in the region, in order to sustain fisheries resources and the marine environment, and to optimise the benefit of adopting responsible fishing practices. The actions cover conservation of fisheries resources and their environment, managing fishing capacity, and combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the areas of the South China Sea, Sulu-Sulawesi Seas (Celebes Sea) and the Arafura-Timor Seas.
4. This RPOA is a voluntary instrument and takes its core principles from already established international fisheries instruments for promoting responsible fishing practices, including the 1982
   `United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea' (UNCLOS), in particular Articles 61 through 64, 116-119 and 123, the `United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement' (UNFSA), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) `Compliance Agreement' and the FAO `Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries'. The RPOA is consistent with existing treaties, agreements and arrangements and all other plans and programmes relevant to the sustainable management of the region's living marine resources.
5. This RPOA also draws upon the FAO International Plan of Action (IPOA) for the Conservation and Management of Sharks', the `IPOA for the Management of Fishing Capacity', and the `IPOA to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing', the `IPOA for Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries', which contain internationally agreed measures, applicable to national and regional plans to promote responsible fishing practices and, more recently, the FAO `Model Scheme on Port State Measures to Combat IUU Fishing'.

Action Plan

Current resource and management situation in the region

1. The RPOA notes and affirms that the shared fish stocks are a very important source of food for people in the region, utilized by countries in the region and also traded both in and outside the region. Both overfishing and illegal fishing are seriously depleting the region's fish stocks. In this regard, the promotion of responsible fishing practices, and prevention, deterrence and elimination of illegal fishing are essential to ensure food security and poverty alleviation in the region and countries in the region should:

Implementation of international and regional instruments

2. International instruments contain structures and measures upon which to build long term sustainable fisheries. The key global instruments that countries should consider when implementing responsible fishing practices include the 1982 `United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea' (UNCLOS), the `United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement' (UNFSA), the FAO `Compliance Agreement', the FAO `Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries', the `International Plan of Action (IPOA) to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing', the `IPOA for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries', the `IPOA for the Conservation and Management of Sharks' and the `IPOA for the Management of Fishing Capacity'. Relevant regional instruments include the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the Agreement Establishing the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC). To support these measures, countries in the region are encouraged to:

Role of regional and multilateral organizations

3. Implementing responsible fishing practices and combating IUU fishing are issues for the whole region. Articles 63, 64 and 116-119 of the UNCLOS requires countries to cooperate in the conservation and management of shared stocks and highly migratory species. The management expertise and technical capacity built up over the years by regional organizations should be harnessed to assist with the problems of the region.

4. Countries acknowledge the important roles of regional organizations in strengthening fisheries management and conservation in the region including the FAO/APFIC, WCPFC, IOTC, the
   Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), ASEAN, INFOFISH, the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), and WorldFish Center. The measures promoted by these organizations which may be applicable to this RPOA should be supported by all participating countries where relevant.

Coastal State responsibilities

5. The collection, management and availability of accurate and timely information are essential in managing fishery resources and combating illegal fishing. Accurate data on the number of fishing vessels and fishing activity is required to provide for responsible fishing, hence the importance of maintaining comprehensive and up-todate vessel registers and catch and effort information by all States, both coastal and flag. To help address this concern, countries in the region should:

6. Control of fishing capacity and fishing effort are fundamental elements of fisheries management. When the capacity of fishing fleets to harvest a resource exceeds the sustainable level, it results in unsustainable fishing activity and has the potential to `spill-over' into illegal fishing activity. This RPOA acknowledges that countries should manage the fishing capacity of their fleets by:

Flag State responsibilities

7. Coastal States through their flag State responsibilities in the region are at the forefront in implementing sustainable fishing practices and combating illegal fishing. To address this need:

Port State Measures

8. Port States play a key role in combating illegal and unreported fishing in the region, given the need to land catch and support fishing activities. In this regard, regional countries and fishing entities need to develop measures to regulate fishing vessels accessing their ports for transhipping and/or landing catch and collect and exchange relevant data. To address this need, countries should consider:

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⁷ Noting recent developments in the FAO to negotiate a binding international agreement on Port State Measures, the Parties to the RPOA agreed to consider the provision of the FAO document once it is completed.

Regional market measures

9. In order to minimize unreported and illegal catches, countries should collaborate to implement regional market measures to identify and to track fish catches at all points in the marketing chain in a consistent way with existing international trade laws.

Regional capacity building

10. Capacity building in all aspects of fisheries management must be encouraged. Countries are aware that a fully effective system requires technically competent implementation and operation. Technical and administrative staff require access to both formal and on-the-job training to build the requisite experience and competence in matters such as fisheries resource assessments, introduction of monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) measures and development of fish product tracking systems. To build these capacities, countries should:

Strengthening monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) systems

11. An MCS system, at both a national and regional level, supports and underpins a robust fisheries management regime. A strong enforcement network can share data and information on enforcement strategies and provide advice and capacity building. To better coordinate efforts against illegal activity, countries should develop suitable and relevant inter-agency arrangements to develop their networks to quickly share information such as locations, names of vessels, ports used (home and/or unloading port) and species targeted, and other information as appropriate. To develop these capacities, countries should:

Transshipment at sea

12. Transshipment outside the territorial sea should be regulated to prevent illegal fishers from using it to launder their catches. Stronger monitoring, control and surveillance of both fishing and carrier vessels is a priority. To implement this, countries should:

Implementation

13. Countries agree to support the ongoing development of the cooperative arrangements embodied
    in this RPOA. The effective implementation of the RPOA will be reviewed as determined by
    a Coordination Committee to be comprised of officials from each participating country and communicated to the FAO's Committee on Fisheries and other regional bodies as appropriate.

ANNEX VIA

PRIORITY ACTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES � WORKING GROUP 1 � MANAGING FISHING CAPACITY

ANNEX VIB

PRIORITY ACTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES � WORKING GROUP 2 � IUU FISHING

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⁸ Noting recent developments in the FAO to negotiate a binding international agreement on Port State Measures, the Parties to the RPOA agreed to consider the provision of the FAO document once it is completed.

ANNEX VIC

PRIORITY ACTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES � WORKING GROUP 3 � INFORMATION NEEDS