CHAIRMAN: Good-morning, the Ninth Session of Commission I is called to order. When we finished on Friday afternoon there were still some answers to be given from the Secretariat. We were still on Item 17 so Mr Regnier please will now speak.
A. REGNIER (Directeur, Division du développement des Programmes de terrain): Le débat que nous avons tenu vendredi dernier a été riche et pour le Secrétariat fournit des indications fort utiles pour les orientations futures du Programme de terrain. A ce stade, je voudrais me permettre de répondre à un certain nombre de questions et de commentaires des distingués délégués, évitant d'aborder les sujets qui ont déjà fait l'objet de réponses la semaine passée de la part de M. Shah - par exemple sur les fonds fiduciaires - et de M. Rinville sur le PCT, l'évaluation et l’environnement.
Tout en restant ultérieurement à votre disposition pour des questions que j'aurais négligées, pour des raisons de commodité, je voudrais grouper mes réponses autour de quatre sujets principaux: le rôle de conseiller en matière de politique et, plus généralement, le rôle en amont des projets; l'approche-programme ; la coordination au niveau des pays; les nouveaux arrangements pour les dépenses d'appui du PNUD.
Conseil en matière de politique et analyse en amont des projets: De nombreuses délégations s'y sont référés, en général appréciant l'intensification récente de nos travaux dans ce secteur. La délégation de la Finlande a cependant demandé comment nous comptions intégrer davantage cet effort dans le Programme de terrain, et celle de la Suède a relevé au graphique 2.5 (page 43) que la part de l'analyse des politiques était seulement de l'ordre de 8 pour cent.
Ces 8 pour cent se réfèrent à la catégorie de conseil en matière de politiques agricoles stricto sensu et, en réalité, sous-évaluent l'ampleur des tâches accomplies car de nombreuses activités en matière d'analyse des politiques ou d'examen sectoriel sont comptabilisées directement dans des secteurs comme forêts, pêches ou développement rural qui apparaissent séparément.
En réalité, ces activités en "amont" des projets sont en accroissement notable comme le montre la section correspondante du document C 91/21 sur la mise en oeuvre de la revue des paragraphes 35 à 64. Ces projets sont maintenant en cours ou dans la filière pour quelque 140 millions de dollars, sans parler des études entreprises par le Centre d'investissement. Ces projets couvrent les examens sectoriels et sous-sectoriels, la
préparation des réunions de donateurs ou de négociations de programmes d'ajustement structurel, et la mise en place ou le renforcement dans les pays de moyens d'analyse des politiques par la création d'institutions et/ou la formation.
Un effort intensifié dans cette direction est donc en cours et un rapport plus détaillé à ce sujet pourra être inclus dans le prochain Examen du Programme de terrain.
Bien entendu, notre travail à ce sujet présuppose qu'il y ait une requête de la part des récipiendaires: il n'est pas question d'imposer nos vues, mais de les exprimer lorsque nous en sommes sollicités; présuppose que nous soyons associés aux mécanismes de programmation et coordination des aides extérieures. A ce sujet, nous sommes "demandeurs" mais loin d'être souvent satisfaits. Le distingué Représentant de la France a exprimé le souhait de voir la FAO participer aux GC de la BIRD et aux TR du PNUD. Mais il sait, également, que nous n'y sommes généralement pas invités, n'étant pas une agence de financement et que nous ne pouvons y contribuer qu'à travers l'assistance aux gouvernements pour la préparation des documents - s'ils le souhaitent évidemment - et aux revues sectorielles - ce qui limite notre champ d'intervention; enfin, ce travail présuppose aussi les ressources nécessaires. Le PR permet certaines actions et le PCT a assuré ainsi le financement de près de 40 pour cent des projets terminés ou en cours; enfin, nous cherchons également à mobiliser des ressources extérieures, en particulier le PNUD, et la nouvelle facilité dite TSS-I, service d'appui technique au niveau des programmes, devrait nous permettre d'amplifier nos activités en amont - j'y reviendrai.
Entre-temps, en tout cas, le Secrétariat tente de s'organiser au mieux: en approfondissant ses données de base sur les pays; par l'institution d'un Comité directeur et d'une équipe spéciale chargée d'assurer la coordination du travail d'analyse et de conseil; en renforçant les Représentations de la FAO, hélas dans la mesure limitée de nos moyens.
L'approche par programme: L'approche-programme préconisée par la Résolution 44/211 de l'AG recueille notre assentiment et le PWB le souligne à suffisance. Ne serait-ce que du point de vue de la gestion et pour assurer le degré nécessaire de multidisciplinarité, il est préférable de se concentrer sur des projets atteignant une masse critique suffisante pour résoudre un problème spécifique ou sur des secteurs bien délimités.
Mais la définition de ces programmes est une responsabilité des pays eux-mêmes. Nos interventions ne peuvent être que tributaires de la demande de service.
Le dialogue avec les autorités doit être continu et les cycles de programmation du PNUD permettent un tel dialogue sur les programmes. A l'inverse, cependant, et parce que c'est une obligation constitutionnelle de la FAO, nous ne pouvons ignorer les requêtes ad hoc, individuelles, qui nous sont adressées - si elles sont techniquement valables évidemment - et qui s'intègrent bien souvent dans des priorités sectorielles et sous-sectorielles bien définies des gouvernements eux-mêmes. Voilà le sens du paragraphe 1.40 qui a été relevé par le distingué Représentant de la Suède. De même d'ailleurs, et pour les mêmes raisons, l'Organisation ne pourrait se limiter, comme il y a été fait allusion, aux seuls projets régionaux et
globaux. Pour assurer la pertinence des conseils qu'elle peut être amenée à fournir, la FAO doit garder le contact opérationnel avec les réalités concrètes au niveau local.
D'autre part, l'Organisation est tributaire des ressources extrabudgétaires dont elle dispose. Dans cette optique d'une approche programmatique, il est encourageant de constater que plus des 2/3 des fonds fiduciaires sont alloués au soutien des Programmes d'action spéciaux spécifiquement définis comme prioritaires par les organes directeurs.
On peut donc constater que vos messages passent en souplesse, sans dogmatisme, dans la réalité de nos activités de terrain, assurant la synergie entre Programme régulier et Programme de terrain.
La coordination au niveau des pays: Comme je l'ai dit, l'initiative de l'approche-programme revient aux gouvernements. Il n'empêche que le dialogue au niveau local entre les partenaires des Nations Unies est aussi fort important à ce sujet. La FAO, qui reconnaît le rôle de primus interpares du Représentant coordonnateur, répète qu'elle est disponible pour ce dialogue sur les politiques et les programmes, en particulier en ce moment crucial pour la préparation du prochain cycle.
A cet égard, nous apprécions les Représentants résidents - qui ont également le rôle de coordonnateurs du système des Nations Unies - qui nous ont associés à la discussion de la "Note consultative" qui sert de document de base pour le programme du prochain cycle. Là où nous ne l'avons pas été - et nous ne savons pas pourquoi, car tous nos Représentants ont reçu l'instruction de se mettre à la disposition du PNUD - notre rôle dans la définition du programme devient plus difficile, voire aléatoire.
Voilà, en réponse à un distingué Représentant, ce que signifie la référence à "l'environnement institutionnel" au paragraphe 1.24, c'est-à-dire que les agences doivent être systématiquement consultées, tenant compte de leur rôle-pilote dans leur secteur de compétence et leur avis recherché sur le rôle des différents intervenants.
Ainsi, par exemple, la tendance parfois observée du PNUD de renforcer les capacités nationales au niveau des institutions centrales (Ministères des finances ou du plan), au détriment des ministères techniques, comme l'agriculture, qui est notre interlocuteur naturel, nous inquiète, car c'est précisément la capacité des ministères techniques qu'il s'agit de renforcer si on veut faciliter l'exécution nationale.
Les nouveaux arrangements pour les dépenses d'appui du PNUD: Ceux-ci représentent une novation importante - pas seulement quantitative (le niveau de remboursement), mais aussi qualitative (la nature des services à rendre).
Le distingué Représentant du Royaume-Uni nous a dit que ces arrangements n'étaient pas "optionnels" pour les cinq agences visées, mais qu'il s'agissait de les mettre en oeuvre.
Le Directeur général en est tout à fait conscient et nous nous organisons au mieux pour y faire face. Le paragraphe 5 du Supplément 1 - que certains délégués ont mentionné - ne cherche pas à prendre des distances. Il signifie seulement que les ajustements doivent se faire dans l'ordre, compte tenu aussi des postes en jeu comme l'a rappelé M. Shah, en
équilibrant recettes et dépenses. A cet égard, nous aurions sans doute préféré une transition plus longue, car le maintien du régime forfaitaire actuel de 13 pour cent pour 500 millions de dollars de projet perdra déjà sans doute l'essentiel de ses effets avant la fin de 1993.
D'autre part, les ajustements à effectuer seront difficiles à quantifier avec précision aussi longtemps que la charge de travail selon le nouveau régime ne pourra pas être évaluée. C'est donc à la lueur de l'expérience qu'il faudra moduler le rythme et la profondeur des ajustements à appliquer - d'où cette flexibilité requise par le Directeur général et dont la nécessité, me semble-t-il, a été reconnue.
Ceci dit, les décisions ayant été prises, il faut aborder maintenant le sujet comme un défi à relever, une opportunité, pour en tirer le meilleur parti possible. Nous y sommes déterminés et je peux assurer les délégués que nous continuerons à collaborer aussi étroitement que possible avec le PNUD.
Vous me permettrez donc de dire quelques mots sur comment nous voyons notre rôle en fonction de l'exécution nationale et des nouvelles modalités TSS-I/TSS-II/AOS et comment nous nous y préparons.
L'exécution nationale: Je voudrais tout d'abord rassurer le distingué Représentant du Canada concernant la propriété (ownership) des projets. Pour nous, depuis toujours, il n'y a pas de projets FAO, mais des projets du gouvernement assistés par la FAO.
Le distingué Représentant de la Suède a dit que sur cette question de l'exécution nationale, la FAO était à la fois à l'avant-garde tout en étant réticente devant le processus.
A l'avant-garde sûrement: Plus de 400 projets sont dirigés par des directeurs nationaux; dans certains pays nous n'avons pas un seul expatrié dans nos projets; le renforcement des institutions est inscrit dans presque tous nos projets; enfin, nous organisons ici au Siège des séminaires pour former des équipes nationales à la formulation de la gestion des projets.
Nous pensons cependant que les décisions quant aux modalités d'exécution doivent être prises au cas par cas après les consultations nécessaires avec comme principal souci la bonne fin des opérations.
Nous pensons aussi que l'exécution nationale, quand elle est décidée, doit être authentique et non se muer en exécution par le Bureau local du PNUD ou le Bureau des services d'appui du PNUD (OPS). Or, nous avons pu constater que le plus gros des dépenses au titre des projets exécutés au niveau national se fait, en fait, à travers ces mécanismes et que l'OPS a pratiquement doublé ses approbations en un an et est en passe de devenir le principal agent d'exécution des projets du PNUD.
Quoi qu'il en soit, la FAO est disposée à offrir son soutien et ses services techniques aux pays qui opèrent eux-mêmes leur projet à titre d'agence coopérante. Elle est aussi prête à participer avec le PNUD à la formulation intérimaire, et ensuite définitive, des directives qui doivent gouverner l'exécution nationale, ainsi que la décision du PNUD le requiert.
Les nouveaux services: La FAO est consciente qu'à l'avenir elle aura moins à intervenir dans la gestion administrative et financière des projets et davantage pour les activités en amont et le support technique des programmes et des projets (AOS vis-à-vis du TSS-I et TSS-II).
Reste à voir si l'un compensera l'autre puisque pour TSS-I et TSS-II il n'y a pas de préallocation par agence - comme l'a rappelé le distingué Représentant du Danemark - ce sera le jeu de la demande et de la compétition. Nous vous avons donné nos premières estimations dans le document Supplément 1 - à réévaluer en permanence cependant du fait des incertitudes présentes.
Pour TSS-I, nous avons déjà mis en place un mécanisme interne pour contribuer à la préparation du programme de travail pour les deux premières années, ainsi que prévu par la décision du Conseil d'administration.
En ce qui concerne TSS-II, je voudrais assurer le distingué Représentant du Royaume-Uni que le paragraphe 1.90 ne sous-entend pas un moindre intérêt de la FAO pour les services envisagés par TSS-II, mais souligne l'importance qu'il y aurait pour la FAO d'être associée dès le début du cycle des projets, même lorsque l'exécution sera nationale, de manière à être mieux à même d'assurer à moindre frais les services en question.
Nous partageons par ailleurs l'avis du distingué délégué des Etats-Unis quant au niveau insuffisant des ressources affectées au TSS-II.
Enfin, pour ce qui est de AOS, le choix des modalités d'exécution est dans les mains des gouvernements; nous sommes cependant prêts à contribuer soit directement comme agence d'exécution, soit indirectement comme agence coopérante.
Pour ces différents services, les modalités de rétribution sont toujours à l'examen. La FAO y joue un rôle actif et nous espérons que sous peu des solutions concertées pourront être arrêtées. Sur ces discussions entre les agences et le PNUD, ainsi que sur le programme de formation, M. Forbes Watt, ici à mes côtés, qui préside le Groupe des agences, pourra vous en dire davantage.
Pour ma part, je voudrais conclure en m'excusant d'avoir été si long - mais le débat avait été si riche - et en rappelant notre volonté de coopérer au mieux avec le PNUD dans la me en place de ces nouveaux arrangements. Nous sommes aussi conscients, comme l'a rappelé le distingué Représentant du Royaume-Uni, des dispositions qui ont été prévues pour l'examen périodique de ces mécanismes permettant les ajustements qui se révéleraient nécessaires, car on ne peut oublier que ceux-ci sont complexes et qu'on ne pourra évaluer leur efficacité qu'à' l’expérience.
F. RINVILLE (Sous-Directeur général, Département du développement): Je voudrais maintenant que M. Forbes Watt puisse compléter sur les problèmes de formation qui ont été effectivement évoqués par certains délégués, et une évaluation qui avait paru forte du coût nécessaire; de même qu'il pourrait donner des indications sommaires sur l'échéancier des travaux en cours entre la FAO, ses agences soeurs, et surtout la coordination avec le PNUD qui donnera une idée des comptes rendus que nous pourrons fournir dans l'année qui vient lorsque ces travaux seront venus à échéance sur les modalités réellement adoptées et mises en oeuvre.
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D. FORBES WATT (Adviser, Special Development Subjects, Development Department): Mr Chairman, delegates may be aware that the process of preparing successor support cost arrangements has been quite a lengthy one and has been going on intensively in consultations between the five principal agencies concerned in this decision: FAO; ILO, Unesco, UNIDO, UNDCTD and UNDP. The process has been on the whole quite a constructive one, very frank and open. Several delegates here, I know have participated in it from the point of view of the Governing Council, and it has been very much tripartite between governments, UNDP and the agencies and the result, the decision, is a complex one, as a number of delegates have mentioned, but complex because of its intentions and the motivations which it wishes to provide to induce shifts and changes in the way technical cooperation proceeds with UNDP funding. We as agencies, and certainly as FAO, have participated very fully in the decision, in the lead-up and in the preparations; we are certainly participants and accept its thrust and its contents and do not view it as in any way optional. It is something that we are taking very seriously and we have already been moving on within the Organization in terms of preparations and adjustments.
The costs of training were mentioned by Germany and several other delegates as seemingly very high. A figure of US$1.5 million for FAO alone is mentioned in the Review of Field Programmes. The overall training effort at national, sub-regional, regional and Headquarters level, involving five major agencies, UNDP, and a lot of concerned government officials, as you can well imagine, cannot be underestimated, and the fact that the decision is admittedly complex should signal to us that the training efforts will need to be intense if they are to be effective and ensure as smooth and as timely an implementation of the new arrangements as possible. To increase efficiency and to contain the cost to the maximum extent, the agencies involved in UNDP are pursuing joint approaches to training at the various levels I mentioned and the detailed training schedule, which will cover 1992, will be available in the first week of December. It will be finalized between the agencies and UNDP at the IACM meeting in New York in the first week of December.
The estimate of US$1.5 million for FAO has to be seen in perspective against the large needs - we are, after all, the largest operating agency of the five - and it would mainly comprise senior staff time, travel, and the use of training facilities at Headquarters and around the world, where seminars, briefing and training will be organized. This training programme will take account of the early experience of incorporating the new modalities as we move through 1992. We can only hope that the estimate we have shown you will be contained and we will certainly be providing details of the actual costs incurred to the Finance Committee as these arise, so this will be something we will be very careful about.
We do see the inter-agency task force and UNDP meeting constantly during 1992 to monitor the implementation of the new procedures, and in this connection I would like to comment for a moment on a point raised by Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom, and that is on the monitoring arrangements for these successor support costs, the new framework to be introduced. Every year, beginning in May 1992 at the Thirty-ninth UNDP Governing Council, there will be a review of experience with the successor support cost arrangements in view of their radical compared with what we have been used to and the fact that, in many ways, they are going on a basis which may need some revisions. This we do not know, but it will be monitored by the Governing Council, which will also be considering
transitional arrangements in May 1991. They will be monitored again in 1993 and there will be a major review of the implementation of the new arrangements to take place in 1994. So I think that the agencies, UNDP and the countries concerned in the Governing Council are taking this very seriously and it will be something that we will follow and be reporting to you as progress is achieved.
CHAIRMAN: Thank you Mr Forbes Watt. I take it this concludes the replies from the Secretariat. Are there any further comments from the floor?
François ROHNER (Suisse): Je tiens ici à remercier les intervenants de ce matin pour les explications qu'ils nous ont données, des explications détaillées qui, je crois, nous ont permis de mieux comprendre la situation effective.
Nous avons, avec ces nouveaux arrangements, effectivement un grand défi devant nous, la FAO, le PNUD et tout le reste de la famille des Nations Unies. Il sera très important d'arriver à un arrangement qui fonctionne, qui soit applicable, avec un coût raisonnable.
Nous avons passé deux ans très intenses sur ces nouveaux arrangements et je dirai qu'il est bientôt temps de revenir à des préoccupations qui me paraissent au moins aussi importantes et qui ne devraient pas disparaître à l'arrière-plan. C'est en effet l'efficacité et l'impact des opérations financées par le système des Nations Unies. J'ai regretté que, dans ce débat, nous n'ayons pas entendu la voix du PNUD qui a pourtant été cité à de nombreuses occasions.
De petits commentaires pour finir. Nous avons beaucoup parlé de TSS-I et TSS-II AOS; je ne suis pas sûr que beaucoup de gens aient compris en détail de quoi il s'agissait. Pour ce qui me concerne, j'aimerais ajouter à cela une remarque, c'est que le TSS-I et le TSS-II sont des ressources très limitées. J'espère beaucoup pour ma part que l'utilisation des services techniques de la compétence, de l'expérience de la FAO et des autres institutions spécialisées des Nations Unies ne se limitera pas à ces deux rubriques TSS-I et TSS-II, mais que les ressources des CIP, qui représentent le reste des ressources, à savoir 93 pour cent de la totalité des ressources mises à disposition des programmes par pays, serviront également à faire plein usage de cette compétence technique des institutions. C'est dans l'utilisation de ces compétences que nous voyons l'avantage comparatif de l'aide fournie par le système des Nations Unies.
Je me limiterai donc à ces quelques remarques, en remerciant encore une fois M. Rinville, M. Reigner, M. Forbes Watt des compléments qu'ils nous ont donnés ce matin.
CHAIRMAN: Are there any further comments? I think the time has come when I should sum up. As I have said before, this is not an attempt to cover everything. The Drafting Group has the good assistance of the Secretariat and has its own agenda to find out what is right in the draft. However, let me try.
I think it was agreed that this report is a very valuable one. I further note what Mr Régnier said about the next issue of the Report which is probably going to be more comprehensive and better.
My second point is on the question of national directors. This was discussed quite a bit and the Secretariat gave us some answers. I think we should understand what some delegates say, but this development is a gradual one, or should be a gradual one. We cannot suddenly change over the whole system in a very brief period of time. So I think that is a very important point. I could give my third point as the text role of country officers. I think it is worthwhile noting that some delegates felt that, in practice, there was a need for more progress in this sense, more progress towards decentralization which is the main part of the whole exercise.
My fourth point is on TCP where there have been a lot of comments, generally very satisfactory comments as seen from the Secretariat's point of view. But I think it should also be stressed in the report that some delegates asked for better criteria on these projects.
My next point is the programme approach, where Mr Regnier made some very valuable comments on the actual developments with Trust Funds and Special Action Programmes. I think I can permit myself to mention that the DANIDA Study which has been commented on by number of countries should be brought up.
Then we come to the most difficult point of all, the successor arrangements. This is a very important point. Some delegates made some very precise remarks on this. As is obvious from the remarks and also from the answers, especially from Mr Shah, FAO should be flexible in this. This is a development which is not optional. Mr Regnier mentioned that too.
Therefore it is important that FAO should draw the necessary conclusions from this new arrangement. I have noted in the report that so far no real evaluation for personnel has been made. It should be made quickly. I think that was the sense of the meeting, and the report should be presented to the Finance Committee at a very early stage.
In this context, there was also a discussion about the supplementary paper on Trust Funds activites. We look forward to seeing an analysis of this so that it can be properly studied.
I have noted in this particular context that there were rather divergent views on whether it was a good idea to use Regular Fund money for this purpose, partly or not. I think the views should come out.
In listening to Mr Regnier this morning, I noted also what he said about Policy Analysis Study. I think it should be made quite clear, how much FAO goes into this business. Some delegates were critical about the small figure given, but you gave an answer which was broader. I think it should be made in reasonably precise terms in the report.
I think those were the main points. There may be others which I may have forgotten. But I think we can conclude Item 17 and forward it to the Drafting Group.
Our next item will be Item 18. On this, my second Vice-Chairman from Sri Lanka, Mr Nilaweera, has promised to take the Chair.
D. Nilaweera. Vice-Chairman of Commission II, took the Chair
D. Nilaweera. Vice-Président de la Commission II. assume la présidence
Ocupa la presidencia D. Nilaweera, Vicepresidente de la Comisión II
CHAIRMAN: Distinguished delegates, before I move to the substantive item for discussion, let me take this opportunity to thank all the delegates who supported my nomination to the post of Second Vice-Chairman. I am sure it will help me to do my job better, and of course the Secretariat.
The document before us this morning, C 91/25, is Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development. I give the floor now to Mr Lindquist, Assistant Director-General to introduce this item.
A.H. LINDQUIST (Assistant Director-General, Fisheries Department): As you are aware, the FAO Conference on Fisheries Management and Development, convened in Rome in 1984, was a landmark in Fisheries.
Apart from reviewing the practicalities of implementing the new legal Regime of the Ocean as embodied in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Conference endorsed by consensus the Strategy for fisheries management and development which consisted of principles and guidelines to be taken into account when planning and executing steps to improve the contribution of fisheries to social, economic and nutritional goals. You will recall that the Director-General had presented a preliminary Progress Report to the session of the FAO Governing Bodies held in 1987 which had recommended that further Progress Reports should be prepared at four-year intervals.
A second Progress Report was, therefore, submitted to the Nineteenth Session of the Committee on Fisheries held in April this year and to the FAO Council in June this year.
The preparation of the reports which is in document C 91/25 has been made possible through the replies received from governments and organizations. The contributions received there, I am pleased to say, were substantial and many of the most comprehensive contributions received were from developing countries. The replies received clearly demonstrate that the Strategy has provided, and continues to provide, guidance to the best approaches to fisheries management and development both for countries and for donor agencies. They also indicate the manner in which the international consensus on these matters at the World Fisheries Conference helped to raise the image of the fisheries sector at the highest level of Government.
The replies show that the Strategy has been of value and use in preparing or reviewing national plans and programmes. The Committee on Fisheries, at its session in April, noted that encouraging progress had been made. A number of countries observed that governments had been confronted with extreme difficulties during the period following the World Fisheries Conference, while adequate international assistance had not been forthcoming to meet their needs.
It was also noted that environment and sustainability in fisheries, coastal area management, appropriate fishery management systems, removal of trade barriers and increasing national research capacity be given increased emphasis in this Strategy.
Other issues of interest stressed by the Committee on Fisheries included training and transfer of technologies so as to improve the self-reliance of developing countries in planning and implementing fisheries development and management programmes, strengthening of national capabilities in stock assessment, and socio-economic data collection and compilation, inland fisheries and aquaculture, and private sector involvement in fisheries development.
The Committee recommended that FAO should prepare a special publication summarizing all national reports and debates, and highlighting the benefits derived, as well as the proposals for a more rapid and streamlined implementation of the Strategy, particularly in developing countries.
The second Progress Report was expected to deal not only with the continued utility of the Strategy itself but also to examine the expectations and experiences of countries as they had sought to develop and manage their fisheries within the context of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
From the responses made by some governments in this respect, it was clear that experiences have varied. In some cases there have been very positive and beneficial results, while in others the results have not been as expected. Meanwhile, the Secretariat has taken steps to prepare a study on this subject to be published in a special chapter of FAO's annual publication The State of Food and Agriculture 1992, the tenth anniversary of the adoption of UNCLOS.
In June 1991 the FAO Council noted with satisfaction that considerable progress had been achieved in implementing the World Fisheries Conference Strategy.
Please allow me, Mr Chairman, to draw attention to two major events that have taken place since the sessions of the Committee on Fisheries and the Council, and which are relevant to the implementation of the Strategy.
The first one was the Second Session of the Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation among African States bordering the Atlantic Ocean, which took place in Dakar, Senegal, from 1-5 July 1991. That Conference adopted a regional convention on fisheries cooperation among African States bordering the Atlantic Ocean and endorsed a regional cooperation programme. It also adopted two resolutions dealing with monitoring control and surveillance of foreign fishing activities in the EEZ and the follow-up to the UNGA Resolution 45/185 concerning fisheries cooperation in Africa.
Secondly, the Second Ministerial Conference on Fisheries also referred to as the World Conference of Ministers of Fisheries organized by the Government of Spain was held in La Toja, Spain, from 8-12 September 1991. That Conference stressed the urgent need for consideration of fishery resources and protection of the environment, pointing out that sustainable development of fisheries is not only a matter of rational management and utilization of aquatic resources, but also that of harmonization with the aquatic environment and ecosystem.
The importance of international cooperation on fisheries management development was stressed by those two Conferences. The promotion of joint ventures, investment, free access to markets, research and strengthening of the regional fishery bodies and commissions were some of the specific areas underlined.
The Strategy endorsed by the World Fisheries Conference thus provides a sound and integrated basis for FAO and other technical assistance and financial agencies to aid and advise countries as they seek to enhance their own capacities for fisheries management and development.
The Conference is invited to review the report and offer guidance and comments on future courses of action required to promote the management and sustainable development of fisheries.
CHAIRMAN: I thank Mr Lindquist for presenting this document so lucidly and capturing all the salient points. The discussion is now open.
Mrs Malgorzata PIOTROWSKA (Poland): It is very appropriate that the FAO Conference is reviewing the follow-up actions required to the 1984 FAO World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development. It means that the impetus provided by that important and historic Conference has not been lost. The remarkable consensus achieved at that Conference, clearly recognizing the varied situations and special policies of individual nations, must continue to seek to work together within the framework of FAO to secure a new and improved basis for the better management and use of the world's fishery resources.
My delegation is grateful to the Director-General for the document before us on the subject, and extends our congratulations for a paper which is not only informative and constructive but also brief, as well as comprehensive. Dr Lindquist deserves special appreciation for this excellent presentation.
It is noteworthy for us that the last Progress Report was based on replies from more countries than before; secondly, that the contributions received were more substantial; thirdly, that the majority of the responding governments confirmed that the guidelines and principles contained in the Strategy had been and still are of value and use in helping to prepare or review plans and programmes for the fisheries sector; and fourthly, that greater emphasis is being placed upon fisheries in national economic and social plans, and in particular for better fisheries management and development.
We are pleased to note the concrete steps taken by the Director-General with regard to the prompt actions already taken to implement the World Fisheries Conference recommendations, as indicated in paragraphs 8 and 9 of this document.
Part IV of document C 91/25 entitled Comments and Recommendations of the Nineteenth Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries well reflects the discussions held on this subject by the last COFI session.
We support the comments by the FAO Council as contained in Part V of this document, and we fully agree with the conclusions and suggested action by the Conference as spelt out in paragraphs 88, 89 and 90.
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Eivind HOMME (Norway): I want to start by thanking the secretariat under the leadership of Mr Lindquist for their efforts to draw attention to the importance of the area of fisheries by having produced a Progress Report on the follow-up of the Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development, endorsed by the World Fisheries Conference in 1984.
The fisheries sector is increasingly becoming more important, both as an economic sector for providing employment in the coastal areas and for its contribution to improved nutrition. This calls for higher attention to this area both in the developing countries and among the donor community and gives FAO an important role to play as the leading international organization for conservation and utilization of living aquatic resources.
The Norwegian delegation finds that the 1984 Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development still covers the main areas and issues. The sustainability aspects and gender issues should, however, be further integrated into the guiding principles of the Strategy. We are pleased that the importance of strengthening women's role and position within the fisheries sector is becoming more recognized, and this should relate to all elements of the Strategy.
Related to development of the fisheries is an increasing need for better knowledge. The Study on International Fisheries Research, which was recently published, offers a good basis for follow-up, bilaterally as well as multilaterally. The importance placed on the development and support of national research is, in our view, certainly called for. FAO has an important task to perform in disseminating information and identifying further needs for scientific knowledge in this respect.
Norway is increasingly directing its own development support towards fisheries research and management. This includes, first and foremost, capacity building and strengthening of institutions for research and fisheries administration on a national basis. Training in fisheries biology, stock assessment and in fisheries management is given high priority in this regard, and training courses for this purpose have been developed by Norwegian institutions.
I should like to draw your attention to the Dr Fridtjof Nansen Programme, which has been going on since 1974 through considerable financial support from my country. The Norwegian government is now planning the building of a new research vessel to continue to support fisheries and environmental research in the marine waters of developing countries.
The new programme will include more follow-up activities with regard to making use of the knowledge gained, especially concerning support increased national capacity with a fisheries, research and management. A close cooperation between FAO and Norway in the implementation of this programme will be continued.
Josaia MAIVUSAROKO (Fiji): May I first of all thank the Secretariat for the very comprehensive and informative document which they presented to introduce the discussions on this very important subject. In this respect I would like to state briefly what my Government is doing in order to implement the strategies for fisheries development and management.
Fiji is an archipelagic nation in the South Pacific region encompassing several hundred islands and reefs, and controlling an exclusive economic zone of 1.29 million square kilometres.
Fi]ji's fishery resources are not particularly rich. The reef and lagoon fishery is very much a multispecies fishery with over 100 economically-significant species, none of which are found individually in high densities. The offshore fishery is south of the major Pacific skipjack tuna fishing grounds, but supports the only 100 percent locally owned tune fishing and canning industry amongst the Pacific Island Nations. The traditional subsistence fishery is still extremely important to the rural people of Fiji.
Including the estimated volume of the subsistence catch, the point-of-sale catch value of the whole Fiji fishery was worth around F$104 million in 1990 (US$ 73 million). At least half of this valuation came from the export of canned or chilled tuna. The reef and lagoon fishery accounts for the remainder, but around half of this remainder is the projected value of the subsistence fishery.
After a decade of steady increase in the volume of reef and lagoon catches for the domestic market, following Government development efforts, this fishery has remained on a plateau for the past three years.
Overfishing has occurred on several crustacean and mollusk species, and the reef and lagoon fin-fishery is felt to be approaching the limits of maximum economic yield around the main islands.
The offshore fishery has proved a focus of investment over the past five years, mainly in the form of Fiji-foreign joint ventures to exploit the longline fisheries for export of chilled, whole fished (both deepwater snapper and the larger tunas). In the main, these offshore fisheries are still exploited at much less than 50 percent of the estimated maximum allowable catch.
Fisheries development and management is the responsibility of the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Primary Industries and Cooperatives. Since its establishment in 1965, the Division has been very much a development-oriented body. The Division now runs a network of 20 fisheries extension and research stations around Fiji, maintains 17 ice-plants for the benefit of fisherman, and runs a subsidized small boat-building and artisanal fisherman's training scheme.
With the increasing saturation of reef and lagoon fisheries, the Fisheries Division is now trying to divert more of its resources away from inshore fisheries development and into fisheries management.
At the same time, it is attempting to divert more effort into offshore fisheries, both actively such as through the deployment of payaos for the benefit of small-scale fisherman, and indirectly through public education and the vetting of investment proposals. Aquaculture is an activity that is starting to prove its economic potential, but this is more attractive to farmers than to fishermen.
It is not proving easy to change direction. The people of Fiji, whilst strong artisanal fishermen, have always been able to supply their needs from the reef and lagoon fishery, and have never had to venture for
offshore like their small-island brethren in Polynesia and Micronesia. It is also difficult, in a country that is still developing its primary sector production (through mining and agriculture), to accept that inshore fisheries may have already reached the limit of their development potential. There are still economic gains to be made in the reef and lagoon fishery, but these will require more of a focus on quality instead of quantity. This will mean the diversion of fishing effort from main-island to outer-island fisheries, and the control of destructive fishing practices.
Given this scenario Fiji's strategies for fisheries management and development are clear:
- We must pay more attention to management-oriented law-enforcement on reef and lagoon fisheries, particularly through the facilitation of still-active traditional resource ownership and conservation methods. This would be aimed towards identifying those fishing grounds or species with problems, and strengthening institutional enforcement. Revising the domestic fisheries legislation to account for a more conservation-oriented approach is a strong priority
- We must improve commercial opportunities in the offshore fishery and encourage inshore fishermen to take advantage of those opportunities. The Fiji-foreign joint venture approach has shown many more failures than successes, and it would be preferable to develop this gradually from a local basis. Unfortunately, offshore fisheries tend to be much more capital-intensive than inshore;
- If greater economic returns to fishermen are not possible through increases in the inshore catch, there is still great scope for improving value through better handling and further processing, particularly for export
- Small-scale aquaculturai techniques, primarily aimed at the local market, show great promise for increasing cost-effective protein supplies to cope with local population growth.
-.The growth of the Fiji tourism sector is providing less resource-intensive opportunities for economic benefit from fish, through sport-fishing and diving. However, the economic returns to village people are often less direct than from fishing, and some institutionalization of traditionally-owned marine reserve areas is needed.
In short, the Fiji fisheries sector is entering a period of transition, where the focus of development must shift towards the offshore fishery and management of inshore fisheries must increase. This is a transition that Fiji is not likely to be able to handle without external assistance and advice.
Kyaw LWIN (Myanmar): The 1984 World Fisheries Conference endorsed the Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development. We have taken into account these guidelines and principles in planning and executing activities to improve management and development in the Fisheries Sectors of Myanmar.
The 2 800 kilometres coastline of Myanmar supports a vast reservoir of various fish resources and accounts for 80 percent of the total national fish production. The marine resources, however, still remain underexploited. The total harvested in 1990 amounted to only about 0.5 million metric tonnes against an estimated sustainable yield of over one million metric tonnes. Our national fishing fleet still lacks the capacity to accommodate its full potential and as an interim bridging measure, and in conformity with the United Nations convention of the Law of the Sea, such as for sharing surpluses, a number of fishing rights associated with development programmes have been granted to foreign fishing vessels. The rights are for one year with options for extensions and are meant to serve as a prelude to more economically viable joint ventures under foreign investment laws.
The inshore fisheries, however, still remain the domain of small-scale and regional fishermen who are in apparent need of further support and development. The law relating to acquaculture enacted in 1989 has accelerated the progress and large tracts of suitable areas have been identified, demarcated, and reserved for acquaculture.
Mr Chairman, we fully reaffirm our support. The vitally important issues mentioned in paragraphs 28, 32, 77 and 78 of the Progress Report, C 91/25 are fully supported by us. I would also wish to take the opportunity of assuring this Commission that the fishing operations in Myanmar will be controlled under strict legal and administrative mechanisms so as to prevent overexploitation or damage to the environment.
José Elias LEAL (México): Para la delegación de México el tema 18, Estrategia para la Ordenación y el Desarrollo de la Pesca, contenido en el documento C 91/125, reviste una enorme importancia y nos permitimos hacer los siguientes comentarios:
La delegación de México, desea expresar su preocupación respecto a la iniciativa de reducir las asignaciones presupuéstales a las actividades que desempeña la Organización en relación a la pesca. Nuestro país, considera importante resaltar que la actividad pesquera, particularmente en los países en desarrollo, como el nuestro, juega un importante papel en los esfuerzos nacionales para elevar la alimentación, ingresos, egresos y divisas.
México ha manifestado reiteradamente en diferentes foros, lo delicado y sensible que es reducir el presupuesto de pesca. Por otra parte, México se viene preparando, conjuntamente con la FAO, en la preparación de una Conferencia Internacional sobre Pesca Responsable que estimamos podría ser en 1992. Es muy importante y debe ser analizado por la comunidad internacional. México realiza su mejor esfuerzo porque esta Conferencia tenga el éxito que amerita. Finalmente, deseamos agradecer a la Secretaria y al Dr. Lindquist los esfuerzos realizados en la preparación y la presentación de los documentos.
Por su atención, muchas gracias.
F.A. Shamim AHMED (Bangladesh): Let me begin by congratulating the Secretariat on producing the document C 91/25, and complimenting the ADG Fisheries for introducing the subject. The document under consideration
contains a comprehensive presentation of the progress that has been made with regard to the Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development which was endorsed by the 1984 World Fisheries Conference.
Here I would like to say that FAO has done an admirable job by preparing Progress Reports at regular intervals. The fact that FAO has been asked to present such Progress Reports at four-yearly intervals underscores the importance which the Member Nations attach to such Reports. My delegation is also deeply appreciative of the useful cooperation which the FAO has extended in preparing national reports by a number of developing countries.
Mr Chairman, we have noted the eight major elements of fisheries management and development in the Strategy. All of these elements are of great importance to Bangladesh and we hope to benefit from FAO's expertise and assistance in these fields.
Mr Chairman, in Bangladesh the development of fisheries has been given a very high priority by the Government. Besides being the major source of meeting the nutritional needs of the population, fisheries is also a source of employment and export earnings. We would like to share the expertise of FAO and other Member Nations in terms of technology and management in order to endeavour to make maximum utilization of fisheries resources.
Proper management of the coastal fisheries is also very important to us. As a nation Bangladesh is often struck by cyclonic storms which cause enormous losses to the coastal fisheries. My delegation will be very keenly following the deliberations of other distinguished delegations on this subject.
Kwang Wook AN (Korea, Republic of): It is my great pleasure to see you chairing this important Commission.
The Korean delegation agrees with other delegations on the comments that the 1984 World Fisheries Conference established very effective strategies to guide fisheries management and development. We also recognize that the strategies have a continuing validity and usefulness in the present and future.
Strategies that drew the special attention of my delegation are the Strategy Elements 4, 7 and 8.
As is properly mentioned in the Report, the protection of small-scale fisheries has a substantial importance in providing food for domestic consumption and employment in disadvantaged areas. The Korean delegation fully supports the recognition that the described steps in the Strategy should be taken to improve not only their efficiency but also the socio-economic conditions of fishing communities.
Another issue that is as important as the small-scale fisheries is the need of international cooperation in fisheries management. In order to maintain a sustainable fishery, inter-country collaboration in fisheries management is an indispensable element.
The harmonization of joint monitoring, control and surveillance systems is one of the most important aspects in the light of long-term fishery resource management.
Mr Chairman, experiences reported to the Nineteenth Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries reveal that the international community is on the right track in pursuing an optimal development of fisheries. We would like to note that the optimum level of fishing intensities should be agreed on and observed by all member countries.
The long-term purpose of the Strategies may be strengthened under the guidance of FAO if each country voluntarily regulates its own fishing and cooperates with other countries.
Concerning the large-scale driftnet fishing issue, my delegation has supported and carefully looked at development following the UN Resolution 44/225 on large-scale driftnet fishing.
Korea has implemented various voluntary activities to respond to the related countries' concern to reduce the side effects as much as possible on North Pacific high seas driftnet fishing since 1984.
On the other hand, my delegation is of the view that appropriate conservation and management measures should harmoniously go along with the proper development activities of world fisheries based on scientific evidence.
From the fishing technology point of view, the drift gillnet has rather more size-elective characteristics than other fishing gears. Moreover, the gillnet itself is a useful and economic fishing gear in the low density area of fishing. That is the reason why the gillnet has been used widely in world fishing history.
Therefore, my delegation would like to reiterate the idea that FAO is the appropriate Body to undertake the collection of more reliable and detailed statistical information on high seas catches and to report the statistical data, differentiating between national jurisdiction areas and high seas.
In this connection, my delegation re-emphasizes and requests the strengthening of the activities of WAICENT for the fisheries sector, Geographic Information Systems and Task Force on High Seas Fisheries.
José LOIRA RUA (España): Señor Presidente, el Comité de Pesca en su 19a sesión que ha tenido lugar el pasado mes de abril, se planteó la relación entre el medio ambiente, y el desarrollo sostenible, en el contexto de las actividades pesqueras.
Entre las conclusiones a las que llegó, España desearía subrayar, por considerarlas de fundamental importancia, las siguientes:
En primer lugar, para poder hablar siquiera de un desarrollo sostenible pesquero, resulta imprescindible establecer, tanto a nivel nacional como multilateral o internacional, una politica de gestión de recursos icticolas, que contemple no sólo las medidas técnicas necesarias para garantizar la selectividad de los artes y su correcta utilización, sino también un eficaz esquema de control de la actividad pesquera. Ahora bien, esta politica de gestión resultaría insuficiente si no se integran en élla factores tan fundamentales como la incidencia que tiene la pesca sobre el medio ambiente y, con la misma importancia, la incidencia que tiene el medio ambiente sobre la pesca.
Una gestión racional y sólida, fundamentada desde el punto de vista científico, puede evitar o paliar posibles efectos negativos sobre el medio ambiente. Para que dicho medio ambiente no repercuta negativamente sobre la actividad pesquera, resulta imprescindible una armonización del desarrolllo industrial, urbano o agrícola, que tenga en cuenta, de forma recíproca, las interacciones existentes.
Esta armonización, en definitiva, forma parte de una concepción integral del desarrollo de todos los países, que no se consigue si se continúan haciendo planteamientos parciales singularizados, que si bien pueden resolver ciertas cuestiones, pueden provocar problemas mayores.
Es indudable que la utilización de prácticas inadecuadas, bien sea en la pesca, bien sea en la acuicultura, pueden resultar perjudiciales para el medio ambiente y para el aprovechamiento sostenible de los recursos marinos. Pero no es menos cierto que prácticas inadecuadas, adoptadas en otros sectores, pueden a su vez incidir negativamente en una actividad, como es la pesquera, de fundamental importancia para asegurar un nivel nutricional, adecuado para la humanidad.
Este aspecto fue resaltado en la, ya citada aquí, Segunda Conferencia de Ministros de Pesca que tuvo lugar recientemente en nuestro país, en la isla de La Toja.
Esta Segunda Conferencia marcó un importante hito en el análisis conjunto de la problemática pesquera, en el conocimiento de posiciones nacionales y en la cooperación internacional para la Estrategia de la Conferencia de Roma.
En la actualidad, disponemos ya de datos que nos permiten estimar lo que representa la actividad pesquera en cuanto a la mortalidad de los peces. Lamentablemente, no tenemos el mismo conocimiento de la repercusión que tiene la degradación por motivos industriales, urbanísticos, vertidos contaminantes u otros factores.
España, apoya firmemente, que se profundice en el estudio y conocimiento de lo anterior para poder así conocer las interacciones y la incidencia relativa de cada uno de los elementos mencionados. Este conocimiento, es requisito previo a la adopción de medidas que permitan resolver los problemas.
Ahora bien, dado que sí se dispone ya de un mejor conocimiento y una mayor capacidad de actuación sobre la incidencia de la actividad pesquera, la delegación española estima que debe actuarse con firmeza, para eliminar los efectos negativos que tienen algunas modalidades que, por su propia naturaleza, implican una pérdida de control respecto a la utilización de las mismas: me refiero concretamente a las redes de enmalle a la deriva, que tienen en sí un riesgo inherente de degradación medioambiental por el potencial de descontrol que conllevan.
Consideramos necesario igualmente, estudiar los efectos que los cambios climáticos tienen en los hábitats y recursos pesqueros y preparar planes alternativos para mitigarlos. Para todo ello, es necesaria una gran cooperación internacional y que la FAO continúe ayudando a los países a incrementar los conocimientos sobre sus recursos, mediante la identificación de proyectos y seminarios de formación.
Desearía subrayar nuevamente, que la correcta utilización de cualquier recurso, no sólo los pesqueros, es una responsabilidad ineludible para todos los países. Esta responsabilidad debe materializarse en la adopción de políticas de desarrollo que sean sostenibles, y para que así sea, que tengan en cuenta no sólo la conservación de los recursos stricto sensu, sino el contexto en que se encuentran dichos recursos. Una visión excesivamente sectorializada sería una falta de responsabilidad inaceptable.
España desea manifestar su satisfacción porque cada vez un número mayor de países, a través de sus experiencias en la aplicación de la Estrategia de la Conferencia de Roma, plasmadas en los informes remitidos al Director General de la FAO, contribuyen a profundizar en el conocimiento global de todos los aspectos que concurren en el sector pesquero.
Es necesario, por tanto, incentivar e instar a aquellos países, que aún no lo han hecho, a que colaboren en la tarea emprendida porque únicamente así, con el concurso de la comunidad internacional, se conseguirán los objetivos perseguidos.
Por ello, celebramos la solicitud realizada por el Comité de Pesca en su 19 período de sesiones, de que la FAO preparase una publicación especial que recoja un resumen de todos los informes.
En 1984, y tras un largo y fructífero debate sobre la problemática de ordenación y desarrollo pesquero, la FAO adoptó una Estrategia que incluía ocho elementos de máxima importancia, con una visión interactiva, que permitía una ordenación y desarrollo pesquero centrado sobre la conjugación de intereses a veces contrapuestos en aras de una compatibilidad de los mismos.
Es indudable, que desde 1984 hasta nuestros días, los distintos países han querido o han podido concentrar su atención y sus esfuerzos en algunos de estos elementos. Ahora bien, España considera que todos los elementos identificados resultan de la máxima importancia y que no puede juzgarse la validez de esta Estrategia por el hecho de que, tan sólo algunos de ellos, hayan sido escogidos por resultar más idóneos con la problemática específica de un país determinado. Por ello, los ocho elementos deben ser vistos de forma integrada y no excluyente.
En consecuencia, queremos expresar nuestra preocupación porque hemos observado que las posturas de algunos países se alejan del espíritu de la Conferencia de Roma, que aprobó, como primer elemento de la Estrategia para la ordenación y desarrollo pesqueros: "la contribución de la pesca a los objetivos económicos, sociales y nutricionales nacionales".
En este contexto quisiera señalar que, dado que en la pasada sesión del COFI se consideró la posibilidad de actualizar o revisar, los principios y orientaciones de la Estrategia, desearíamos que se tuviera en cuenta la introducción en la formulación del primer elemento las palabras "e internacionales". Así se considerarán también las necesidades de países en vías de desarrollo, las de aquéllos que tienen pocos recursos pesqueros y las de los no ribereños.
En cuanto al Elemento 2 de la Estrategia, consideramos que los gobiernos y las instituciones deben continuar e incrementar su colaboración, para ayudar a que los países en vías de desarrollo, adquieran la capacitación
científica y técnica necesaria para llevar a cabo la ordenación y el desarrollo de sus pesquerías, y en este sentido, concretamente España, que sigue en su línea de ayuda a la formación a través de becas, ha iniciado cooperaciones bilaterales a nivel científico con diferentes países, que irá incrementando en el futuro.
Queremos hacer especial hincapié, en que uno de los objetivos de la Estrategia es la ordenación racional para el aprovechamiento óptimo de los recursos pesqueros y observamos con preocupación, que la mayoría de los gobiernos en sus planteamientos de política pesquera, olvidan este elemento tan fundamental para conseguir este objetivo. Es necesario tener en cuenta, además de los aspectos económicos -muy importantes-, aspectos tan esenciales como los problemas sociales y de alimentación de la población mundial.
Por ello, no podemos compartir aquellas políticas nacionales restrictivas que impiden, exclusivamente por razones económicas, que sus recursos sean explotados racionalmente en su rendimiento máximo sostenible.
Por otro lado, consideramos que hay que prestar un decidido apoyo, a todos los niveles, a las pesquerías en pequeña escala, ya que generalmente corresponden a las zonas más deprimidas y carecen para su supervivencia de otras actividades alternativas. En España, existen varias zonas de estas características donde el sustento y el medio de vida de sus habitantes provienen casi exclusivamente de la pesca.
Nuestro país, es un gran demandante de productos pesqueros, por lo que nuestra balanza comercial resulta deficitaria. Ahora bien, nos sentimos satisfechos de que estos resultados sean como consecuencia, en su mayor parte, de nuestro comercio con países en vías de desarrollo. Entendemos que éste es un tipo de cooperación que debería practicarse por parte de todos los países desarrollados.
Consideramos, asimismo, que el conocimiento y la experiencia del sector pesquero están depositados en las empresas privadas; por ello sería necesario que los países, que tienen intereses en desarrollar este sector y aprovechar de manera óptima sus recursos, creen incentivos para atraer la participación de las industrias privadas mediante el establecimiento de las empresas mixtas, Joint Ventures, de asociaciones temporales y de otras fórmulas.
Finalmente, queremos manifestar una vez más, la necesidad de incrementar la cooperación tanto a nivel internacional, como bilateral, para conocer la problemática existente en cada zona e identificar los proyectos más adecuados para la misma. Nuestro país, viene dando prioridad a esta línea de cooperación, a través de bolsas de estudio, cursos de capacitación profesional en centros españoles, asistencia técnica, convenios de investigación con instituciones de terceros países.
Para acabar, valga una reflexión final: el objetivo de cualquier foro internacional es compatibilizar y conjugar su espíritu de cooperación con los legítimos intereses de cada país.
La FAO, en su larga trayectoria, ha dado buena muestra de estar a la altura en esta difícil labor. En una actividad como es la pesca, tan esencial para mejorar el nivel nutricional de la población mundial, España está segura de
que la Organización continuará fomentando el entendimiento entre los países en una línea de progreso para alcanzar los objetivos propuestos.
Raphaël RABE (Madagascar): La délégation malgache est aussi heureuse de travailler sous votre présidence. Elle félicite le Secrétariat pour la production du document C 91/25, document très utile pour l'examen de ce point de l'ordre du jour de cette Commission. Elle remercie M. Lindquist pour la présentation très claire du sujet.
Vous comprendrez que pour Madagascar, qui est une île avec plus de 5 000 kilomètres de côtes, la pêche joue un rôle primordial pour la relance de l'économie nationale. C'est la raison pour laquelle le Gouvernement malgache accorde au secteur des pêches un rang prioritaire, et a créé un département ministériel distinct pour s'occuper de cette discipline.
Nous nous félicitons des progrès accomplis dans l'application de la Stratégie qui demeure, à notre sens, tout à fait valable. Nous voudrions cependant, si vous le permettez, suggérer que dans le futur l'accent soit porté sur les points et actions suivants.
D'abord nous pensons que l'inventaire et l'évaluation des ressources halieutiques nationales demeurent une priorité, car sur ces données fiables devront être élaborées la planification et la programmation en matière de pêche. Ensuite la formation de tous les protagonistes et opérateurs en matière de pêche devra être poursuivie et intensifiée car, dans tous les domaines, la disponibilité de ressources humaines compétentes est garante du succès de toute réalisation.
Comme la délégation de l'Espagne qui vient de s'exprimer, nous pensons nous aussi que les pêcheurs artisanaux devraient recevoir une assistance technique et financière adéquate, car dans nos pays ils jouent un rôle déterminant entre autres sur la sécurité alimentaire.
Les organisations régionales et sous-régionales de pêche devront continuer de bénéficier de l'appui précieux de la FAO. Nous apprécions la déclaration faite par M. Lindquist sur ce que la FAO a fait et continue de faire pour assister et appuyer ces organisations régionales et sous-régionales. Ainsi les éléments 7 et 8 de la Stratégie relative à la Coopération économique et technique et à la Coopération internationale pour l'aménagement et le développement des pêches continuent d'être une priorité marquante, et nous voudrions, si vous le permettez, attirer l'attention de cette assemblée sur les dispositions contenues dans le paragraphe 27 du document concernant la Résolution du 15 novembre 1990 de l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies relative à la promotion de la Coopération en matière de pêche en Afrique.
Nous apprécierons et nous apprécions toute action de la FAO visant à soutenir les actions nationales en matière de promotion de l'aquaculture, toute action visant à la réduction des pertes, à la valorisation des produits secondaires de la pêche industrielle, et bien entendu au contrôle des pêches industrielles dans la zone économique exclusive.
George Nissanka M. PELPOLA (Sri Lanka): Mr Chairman, the Sri Lanka delegation wishes to congratulate the Secretariat on the excellent documentation prepared for discussion this afternoon, which sets out the progress on strategies for fisheries management and development.
While the progress on a wide range of activities in this sector is satisfactory, there are still very important areas where work could be expedited by the FAO. My delegation would like to draw the attention of the Commission to the proposal to establish the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission.
My country has been taking a special interest in exploiting the fisheries resources surrounding our country. As a special programme, we had been systematically focusing our attention on sustainable exploitation of tuna and tuna-like species in the Indian Ocean. For this purpose, we had been taking a keen interest in setting up of an Indian Ocean Tuna Commission.
As a prerequisite for the setting up of a Commission of this nature, the coastal state nations of the Indian Ocean decided that it would be more appropriate to have an organization to collect the necessary information and data to provide the back-up facilities for the operation of this Commission. With this in view, the Member Nations in the Indo-Pacific Region and the distant waters fishing nations have got together and set up what is called the Indo-Pacific Tuna Programme (IPTP). This programme is UNDP/FAO collaborative programme with financial contributions from the Member Nations and since its inception in 1982 the host facilities for its activities have been provided by the Government of Sri Lanka. The main responsibilities of IPTP are stock assessment of tuna and tuna-like species, the conduct of tagging programmes and other related research activities to help in the sustainable exploitation of the resources.
By the time this programme ends it is essential that an effective organizational arrangement is in place so as not to create a vacuum and the most appropriate organization to succeed IPTP is the setting up of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission. Since Sri Lanka has hosted IPTP for nearly 10 years, Sri Lanka has indicated her willingness to host the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission.
My delegation wishes to commend the excellent work done by the Indian Ocean Fishery Commission: several meetings were held as far back as 1987, and the preparatory work concerning the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission was finalized. Stock assessment of tuna in the Indian Ocean was done as part of an expert consultation. In fact, the Indian Ocean Fishery Commission even drafted the agreement for the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission.
My delegation would like to draw the attention of the Commission to the importance of the exploitation of tuna in the Indian Ocean as an integral part of the Fishery Development Programme of the Region.
My delegation strongly suggests that FAO takes steps as expeditiously as possible to resolve the legal and operational problems confronting this issue and establish the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission as recommended by the Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission at its 11th session in July 1990. Sri Lanka will be very happy to host the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission.
António MAGALHAES COELHO (Portugal) : Le document C 91/25 sur la Stratégie d'aménagement et de développement des pêches présente pour le Portugal un très grand intérêt. Les pêches ont une grande importance au Portugal, le poisson constituant pour les Portugais une des principales sources de protéines animales.
Comme il est bien connu, le Portugal est un des plus grands consommateurs, per capita, de poisson au niveau mondial.
Au delà des points de vue qui seront exprimés par le représentant de la Communauté européenne, dont nous faisons partie, la délégation portugaise voudrait renforcer l'affirmation faite, dans le document analysé, de l'importance de la formation de cadres techniques et de formateurs. Ceux-ci peuvent contribuer de façon très marquée à la conservation et à la gestion des ressources des pêcheries, comme indiqué aux paragraphes 22 et 23; souligner la nécessité d'améliorer les systèmes de vigilance et de contrôle des activités de la pêche dans les eaux sous la souveraineté et la juridiction des Etats côtiers (PVD); attirer l'attention sur les aspects de la pollution de la mer, ce que nous avons déjà fait lors de notre intervention sur les problèmes de l'environnement.
La délégation portugaise appuie le point de vue du Nigéria en ce qui concerne la création de Joint Ventures. Ces types d'organisations basées sur le respect des intérêts du pays receveur, sans préjudice d'un juste équilibre en termes d'avantages mutuels, peuvent être un instrument positif dans la coopération pour le développement.
Earl W. WEYBRECHT (Canada): Canada concurs that the Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development that was endorsed at the 1984 FAO World Fisheries Conference continues to provide valid and useful guidance for the development of appropriate fisheries policies and plans. The Strategy is consistent with the objectives of Canadian fisheries management. Many of Canada's fisheries policies and programmes, especially those put in place since the extension of Fisheries Jurisdiction in 1977, embody the goals articulated in the FAO Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development.
Canada agrees, as underscored in Strategy Element 1, that the fisheries are an activity of increasing importance for food security as well as social and economic progress. This is especially valid for developing countries. There will, therefore, be a high priority for continued investment in the management and sustainable development of fisheries, as well as for international cooperation in fisheries management as identified in Strategy Elements 6, 7 and 8.
Canada also recognizes the importance of improved self-reliance in fisheries management and the importance of small-scale fisheries especially as these Strategy elements pertain to developing countries.
With respect to Strategy Element 3 - The Principles and Practices of Fisheries Management - Canada concurs that conservation and sustainable development will continue to remain a priority. UN Resolution 44/225 endorsing a moratorium on large-scale pelagic driftnets in the Pacific by June 30, 1992, is viewed as a major step forward in support of this Strategy element.
Canada agrees that international trade in fish products will become increasingly important, particularly if fisheries are to make a fundamental contribution to sustainable economic and social development in developing countries. There is, therefore, a growing need for further reductions in trade barriers, both tariff and non-tariff, in order to foster full development of the global fisheries resources.
On the important role of women in this sector, my delegation would like to support the comments made by the distinguished delegate of Norway.
Finally, Canada supports continuation of Progress Reports on the Strategy at four-yearly intervals. The Strategy has proven valid since its inception. Future reviews should be undertaken, not only to evaluate the Strategy's ongoing contribution, fisheries management and sustainable development, but to ensure that it continues to remain relevant.
G. SHIMANG (Nigeria): The Nigerian delegation would like to thank the Secretariat very much for the wonderful work they have done to assert our position in conformity with the contents of the presentation.
In line with the agreements of the 1984 World Conference on Fisheries, Nigeria's preparation for fisheries development has streamlined its activities as set out in that document. In this regard, Nigeria has embarked upon total fisheries development in the following areas of endeavour: that is, the programme on aquaculture development, the fisheries inspectorate and equipment supply, including exploratory fishing. We have a fisheries integrated development project; that is, post-harvest fish preservation and utilization, including rural women's development. We have a very large coastal land of over 800 kilometres and we, therefore, have fisheries terminal services. We also have, as the basis of our plan and management, a national fisheries statistics and information programme.
In line with that, we have a very large area of water bodies which have come about by the creation of lakes for irrigation and water development in general, and it has a total estimated surface area of about 12 million hectares. In the aquaculture programme the main objectives are the development of fish farms in different parts of the country. For sustainable development we realize the most important aspect is the establishment of an infrastructure.
So these fish farms have come about to act, first of all, as model fish farms from which Government technicians practise fish production, as well as training of the prospective private fish farm entrepreneurs.
In order to promote fish production in man-made lakes, which have a very large area of water surface, a study has been commissioned entitled "Fishery potentials of man-made lakes in Nigeria". In this it has been identified that there is a very large resource potential in these man-made lakes. However, the management of most of these man-made lakes has come under conflicting interest groups, such as the River Basin Development Authorities, Water Corporation in the States and the local administration institutions, which makes proper planning development and effective management a difficult task for the various Fisheries Departments of both Federal and State Departments.
All the water bodies, if properly managed, could produce an estimated quantity of about 170 000 metric tons of fish.
We also feel it is necessary that, with such a large potential of resources, there must be put in place inspectorate services. Therefore, fisheries inspectorate and equipment supply and integrated fisheries development projects in Nigeria today have come up with some interesting observations. There are unconfirmed reports of overfishing, underfishing
and conflicting views and opinions on the volume of seasonal fish catch, annual total catch, total fishing effort and the potential fish yields in various water bodies in the country. Speculations about the exact state of the fisheries are due to the fact that positive action to maintain the biological productivity is hampered by the lack of reliable time-series of data on time and effort and insufficient information on potential fish yields.
The activities of this project have featured the supply of outboard engines, nets of various mesh sizes, floats, fishing boats, twines, and ropes to all the other fishing communities in the country. It is believed that, when the right equipment for fishing is made available to the fishermen, bad fishing methods will be eliminated and the life of the fishery will be enhanced for appropriate and profitable productivity.
In other words, if the right equipment is in place, the rigours of law enforcement agents may be reduced.
There is still livestock for the production of fish, but we have put in place a fish preservation and utilization project, including rural women development. In this the basic work which has been done is to learn from other neighbours. Therefore, an exchange programme has been put in place through which visits have been made to fishing communities in Cotonou, Benin Republic and Ghana.
Along the fisheries terminal services, very substantial progress has been made and three fishing terminals have been constructed along the coast. These are situated at Ebugu in Akwa-Ibom State - for those who know Nigeria well - Igbokoda in Ondo State and Borikiri in River State. As I said earlier on, the basic work to be done is to put in place the necessary infrastructure which will encourage both the private and the public enterprises.
One of the fishing terminals, Borikiri, is fully functional and has, in order to encourage private participation in fisheries development, been leased out to management agent which pays money to the Government for utilization of these facilities. This helps both the public and private sectors, and improves the quality of the products.
However, there are a few problems but we feel we can overcome them. These are the prohibitive costs of automotive gas oil, the relative inaccessibility of the approach channel to both Egubu and Igbokoda, and sometimes essential services such as electricity and water. The Department has taken positive steps to arrest some of these problems.
I now come to the national statistics and information system programme. This is an aspect of the fisheries planning, development and management, because, without data on the status of the resource base, the present demand for fish, the future requirements and the total amount available to the public to meet the minimum requirements, cannot be forecasted, planned for and produced adequately.
The programme is, therefore, a continuous activity which deals mainly with the collection, collation, processing, updating and disseminating of necessary information which may give guidance to the activities of the Department in order to fulfil its statutory roles of planning, formulating policies and advising the Government on fisheries development matters.
There are other development management activities. In order to control the excesses and abuse of opportunities available to industrial fishermen in the process of legitimate marine resources, a process of regulation is put in place to achieve this major resource management objective.
The instrument is promulgation and enactment into law of the Nigerian Sea Fish Decree.
The activity of licensing fishing vessels is a continuous process and licences are issued each quarter to maintain effective control, as opposed to annual, single licensing contracts. Fishing vessels are licensed to operate in Nigerian territorial waters, the Exclusive Economic Zone, distant water, and also for direct fish importation.
Bilateral fishing rights agreements: the living resources in Nigerian marine waters are not much and not supportive of the large fishing activities. Nigeria has, therefore, looked outwards to other friendly African countries to support her fish supply to the nation. Essentially, therefore, Nigeria entered into a series of fishing rights agreements with friendly African countries in order to broaden the resources base of her industrial fishing fleet and to provide more fish protein to the Nigerian populace.
In this process, Nigeria successfully entered into fishing rights agreements with Sierra Leone, Senegal, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Guinea Conakry and the Gambia. The Nigerian fishing vessels have commenced fishing in Equatorial Guinea while finishing touches are on, so that the agreements with the other countries mentioned above can be physically implemented.
Other international assistance from international agencies is not left out in the fisheries management in Nigeria. There is an IFAD-assisted artisanal fishery development project. The facility has provided US$15 million for the development of accelerated fisheries integrated assistance in the three States of the Federation.
These are mainly along the coast and the funds have been made available in July this year; in other words, the project is on.
We have the ECOWAS fund assisted project. This project is covered by a low interest-rate loan which has been provided by the ECOWAS fund. The project has taken off, and it aims at the provision of credit to artisanal fishermen in the five states of Edo, Delta, Ondo, Kebbi and Sokoto. Funds will be used to finance the supply of fishing inputs to bridge the gap between demand and supply.
The project will be financed by the ECOWAS fund through beneficiary states, and all the necessary institutional framework for the loan disbursement has been provided for its successful execution. The loan was declared effective in May this year.
Harald HILDEBRAND (Germany) (Original language German): The 1984 FAO World Fisheries Conference, in adopting the eight-element Strategy, provided the member countries with very important guidelines for sustainable development of fishery resources as an indispensable source of nutrition and income.
We note with satisfaction from this report that many countries have based their national policies in the fisheries sectors on these guidelines. The successful implementation of some of these measures, as reported in this document, justifies the validity of this very complex set of measures.
My delegation would like to thank the fisheries experts at the FAO and congratulate them on the success of these measures. The FAO Secretariat's recommendations to the countries on maintaining resources is also to be welcomed, which offers continuity to the process through Progress Reports.
For that reason my delegation supports paragraph 90 in document C 91/25, according to which the Strategy should be flexibly applied in order to address issues requiring greater focus. Of course, that involves fishing techniques which would affect fisheries resources and the environment and protect it.
Obviously, international fisheries policy matters are within the mandate of the European Community, of which Germany is a member. For that reason I should like to point out that the EEC Commission is going to make a declaration on this item in the Agenda which will, of course, be supported by my delegation.
In this brief statement my delegation would like to express its approval of this very constructive document.
Bocar Oumar SALL (Sénégal): M. le Président, ma délégation voudrait tout d'abord féliciter le Secrétariat pour la bonne présentation qui vient de nous être faite du document 91/25 - sur la Stratégie d'aménagement et de développement des pêches.
En intervenant dans les discussions sur ce document fort utile, ma délégation voudrait surtout plaider la cause de la pêche continentale. En effet, si tout le monde reconnaît que la pêche continentale contribue largement à l'autosuffisance alimentaire des populations rurales, tout le monde reconnaîtra également que cette pêche continentale continue à être traitée en parent pauvre par rapport à la pêche maritime. La preuve en est que les projets en matière de pêche continentale reçoivent difficilement des financements; les comités régionaux de pêche continentale se réunissent de façon irrégulière.
Et pour toutes ces considérations, ma délégation recommande que la pêche continentale retrouve sa place dans nos préoccupations pour le développement du secteur des pêches, et qu'on lui accorde toute l'attention qu'elle mérite.
M. le Président, ma délégation voudrait souligner également que la nécessité de trouver un réel équilibre entre la production, les ressources halieutiques et la protection de l'écosystème a été maintes fois réaffirmée par notre pays. C'est pourquoi nous sommes favorables à une approche multi-spécifique de l'aménagement de nos cours d'eau, afin de maintenir l'équilibre écologique des plans d'eau et d'assurer une exportation rationnelle des ressources.
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Per WRAMNER (Sweden): First, I should like to express my gratitude at having received such high quality documentation. The Progress Report of the Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development gives us an excellent basis for our deliberations on an issue of the greatest importance, that is the implementation of the Strategy.
It is with great satisfaction I conclude that the implementation of the Strategy has been a success in many countries. Especially, the Strategy is of great value in that it serves as a checklist for considerations which should be examined when seeking the best course for fisheries development. This applies both to developing and to industrialized countries, both to countries in the process of preparing such a plan, and both to recipients and donors like Sweden in development cooperation. It also applies to international organizations. The document in front of us clearly shows the great impact of the Strategy on fisheries development both at national and international levels. This is an impressive achievement by FAO in having brought this about.
The Strategy exemplifies one of the types of activity to which FAO should give the highest priority. However, greater attention should be paid to one aspect of the Strategy, in my opinion, that is sustainability and environment, the emphasis of which should be underlined more than it has been up to now in the implementation of the Strategy.
Therefore, I should like to underline the need for strengthening - especially compared to the last paragraphs of the document -sustainability and environment as well as integrated coastal management as a tool to conserve the environment in FAO's future work to implement the Strategy.
Masayuki KOMATSU (Japan): I very much appreciate having been given the floor, because sometimes one is prohibited from speaking for cooperation purposes, and I appreciate being able to speak on this Agenda Item. I should also like to pay tribute to the FAO Secretariat and Dr Lindquist for preparing the Progress Report on the Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development. My delegation is fully supportive of the report, but we should like to take this opportunity to make some comments. There is a growing interest in the utilization of marine resources by all nations of the world. In particular, marine living resources have been utilized for foods from ancient times. Since 1989 the fishing industry has supplied 99 551 000 tonnes of fish to the world. Needless to say, the augmentation of the importance of fisheries to supply protein resources to satisfy the growing population will definitely be seen.
The usefulness of fishery products as basic food, healthy food and medical materials for a variety of purposes, and the fisheries themselves, have the established role of contributing to the economy and society. This is clear evidence that the management of fisheries is indispensable in achieving sustainable development for fisheries. In the past, disordered fisheries exerted adverse effects on fisheries, and this was recognized worldwide in the 1984 FAO World Fisheries Conference.
In the Committee on Fisheries held this year, it was confirmed that the 1984 World Strategy for Fisheries is still effective, and many nations endeavouring to develop their fisheries have expressed the need for further assistance from FAO. In this regard, the role of FAO's activities is
increasing for the future. Recently, as concerns were raised over environmental protections, the direction of environmental protections is being questioned in fisheries as the nature of fisheries is different from that of agriculture. Fisheries utilize parts of nature's ecosystems which are subject to changes in the natural environment. Accordingly, we must stress that it is of great importance that the development pay due consideration to the environment to maintain the healthy promotion of fisheries. However, we feel that it is very dangerous to see hindrance to the development of high-sea areas fisheries because of excessive environmental protection movements.
The characteristics of fisheries in each nation have been formulated and developed fitting to the regions' needs and they have contributed and formulated economic activities. Even the environmental protection movement proceeds in a disordered way, as currently, such movement destroys the local economy of each nation all over the world. This is particularly true in the developing nations. My delegation would like to stress the importance of keeping the balance between the development of fisheries and environmental protection, and that FAO should strive for the achievement of this objective.
Japan is of the view that for the management of high-seas fishery resources we must consider establishing a new high-seas international fisheries management body, or it should be conducted through the existing international fishery bodies, but do not allow high-seas fisheries operations as they are now. All nations should participate on an equal basis in the management of the high-seas fisheries. Concerning coastal fishery management FAO should assist the development of better management and development of their own fishery for the establishment of the legal framework and socio-economic structure. In this regard, Japan has committed itself to financing this through the FAO's Trust Fund to disseminate the fishery management system for coastal fisheries where, and if appropriate, and Japan will host next June an expert meeting to exchange views on the coastal fishery management. Japan is willing to reveal their own fishing management systems which have been based upon, and achieved, more than 400 years of fishing-related sectors experience. We would appreciate it if many coastal nations will participate in this meeting.
We see that more and more interest and expectation will take place in the fisheries sectors and FAO should exercise their best efforts, based upon the comments submitted by Member Nations, for the ensurance of the World Fishery Management Strategy. Japan is committed to cooperating to the maximum with FAO in this regard.
I would like to touch upon this next stage the specific issues of fisheries management concerning driftnets. We are of the view that any decision should be based upon scientific evidence rather than the political mood which is currently prevailing. I would appreciate it if any nation has evidence, to produce it, that driftnet fisheries have a negative effect.
I would now turn to the subject of bluefin tuna.
One nation filed proposition to list the Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Appendix of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). However, the Atlantic bluefin tuna has been managed by ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) for more than 20 years based on the scientific grounds. ICCAT which has the most
competent knowledge on the Atlantic bluefin tuna has never presented the view that the Atlantic blue fin is being endangered. We are of the view that the fisheries resources should be managed through the fishery management organization based on the principal of the conservation and rational use of the resources and it is inappropriate that CITES will intervene into the fishery resources management. At the CITES meeting in March next year the commercial fish species will be discussed for the first time. Japan would like to urge the Member Nations to send delegates representing the fishery interest to the CITES meeting in order to reflect the views of fishery interests.
On whaling:Whale stocks should be also managed on the scientific ground and we think reopening of the use of whale species, which is Minke whale, should be commenced based upon the spirit of the International Whaling Convention which is to ensure the sustainable use based on the best available scientific knowledge as far as large cetacean is concerned.
Japan is of the view that the small cetacean should be managed through the regional organization reflecting the fact that the distribution of marine mammals varies from region to region and the regional difference of the catches. Japan would also like to urge FAO to revitalize Marine Mammal Action Plan as soon as possible.
Finally, I would like to respond to the comment made by the distinguished delegate for Sri Lanka. We are pleased to see that Indian Ocean Tuna Management under Article XIV of FAO's Constitution may possibly be accommodated pretty shortly because in Commission III we are discussing the possible FAO Constitution amendment coupled with Article II itself. Japan itself is willing to actively participate in a diplomatic meeting if it is going to be held in the early part of next year. Thank you very much Mr Chairman.
Peter Gary FRANKLIN (Australia): Australia welcomes and endorses the Progress Report on Strategies of Fisheries Management and Development so ably introduced by Dr Lindquist. In response to the request for guidance and comments regarding future courses of action we would wish to make the following brief contribution: Australia strongly supports efforts to give priority to work programmes involving, in particular, the sustainable use of fishery resources (including those on the high seas) and the protection of the environment via institutional and other arrangements which will facilitate an integrated approach to the planning and delivery of fisheries programmes.
We recognize that such work should in no way detract from the fundamental role of FAO in assisting countries, particularly developing countries, in the development, management and more effective utilization of their fishery resources. Also of particular importance is the need for FAO to continue its cooperation with GATT in relation to the identification of trade barriers in fisheries products and their eventual elimination, as well as the elaboration of criteria for fair trade.
However, in the current budgetary climate there is a need to ensure that any new commitments in areas dealing with the environment and high-seas fishing, together with the ongoing programmes, are carefully managed and that priorities are rigorously determined through the medium- to long-term planning process.
If I can now briefly turn to the issue of high-seas fisheries, my delegation views as a positive and welcome development FAO's proposal to play a more prominent role in moves towards fisheries management in high-seas areas, especially in promoting international understanding on the responsible conduct of fishery operations. In particular, we welcome the intention of strengthening work in gear selectivity and in the behaviour of marine animals in relation to fishing gear for high-seas and other fisheries with a view to developing guidelines and codes of practice. This conforms with our view that it is important that changes in fish harvesting efficiency must not be permitted to proceed too far ahead of changes in fisheries management practice and that the introduction of management regimes for high-seas areas should not be postponed pending further research.
Similarly scarce research resources should not be directed towards attempting to legitimize high-seas fishing practices which have already been discredited. In this regard Australia welcomes the proposed expert and intergovernmental consultations on high-seas fisheries which are intended to lay the foundation for FAO to play its full part in the forthcoming UNCED process. Australia lends its support to the development of stronger frameworks for the management of high-seas fisheries resources. We acknowledge the close cooperation which is now evident between FAO and the United Nations Office for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (OALOS) in dealing with legal and policy aspects of high-seas fisheries and look forward to a continuation of that cooperation.
Finally, Mr Chairman, our views on driftnet fishing are already well-known and were earlier presented under Agenda Item 6.1. For the sake of brevity I do not intend to repeat those views other than to reiterate that it is our view that large-scale driftnet fishing continues to pose a serious threat to fishing resources and the marine environment in a number of the world's oceans. The evidence which has emerged over the last two years about the impact of drift net fishing more than indicates the initial concerns embodied in UN Resolution 44/225 on driftnet fishing. It is therefore our strong view that the moratorium on high seas driftnet fishing should proceed on schedule and we call for full support from FAO members in this regard.
Ms Charlotte SEYMOUR-SMITH (United Kingdom): The United Kingdom delegation is grateful to the Secretariat for this detailed report on progress in implementing the World Fisheries Conference Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development, and to Mr Lindquist for his clear introduction to this item. The elements of this Strategy are highly relevant to the requirements for development and management of the fisheries sector, and this is reflected in the degree of adherence and support to the Strategy by governments and organizations.
The United Kingdom is pleased to confirm that bilateral support for the fisheries sector in developing countries provided through the British Aid Programme is almost entirely focused on the strategic objectives formulated
by the World Fisheries Conference, particularly those embodied in Strategy Elements 1-4. British Aid Programmes lay emphasis on the sustainable development and management of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture, and incorporate training and research directed at this objective.
The effort made to monitor progress in implementation of the Strategy is worthwhile for a number of reasons. In particular, it is already possible to detect a change in emphasis as the development and management of the sector evolves. Since 1984, greater priority has been accorded to environmental sustainability, gender issues and the role of the social sciences, as well as the integration of diverse specialisms within an interdisciplinary approach to fisheries development and management. Such progress will sooner or later require that the Strategy be revised if its value is to be maintained.
It may not be too early to consider the timing of such revision and the mechanisms through which it might be undertaken.
Benson Crispus MBOGOH (Kenya): The Kenyan delegation would like to record its appreciation to the Secretariat for the excellent Summary Report at document C 91/25 before us. We also thank Dr Lindquist for his short but concise introduction.
Mr Chairman, since the 1984 FAO World Conference on Fisheries, which mapped out a global Strategy for the rational management of world fisheries resources, it is encouraging to note from the report that the majority of Member Nations have adopted the Strategy within their national development efforts for the improvement of their fisheries production and development.
Kenya, for her part, has doubled her efforts in a number of important aspects of the Strategy. We have taken measures to build our national capacities in fisheries planning and management by improving our statistical data collection, to strengthen our capability for evaluation and management of our coastal and inland fisheries management resources. In this regard my Government greatly appreciates the technical assistance of FAO through the Southwest Indian Ocean Programme in this effort.
A further programme for the improvement of artisanal fishing gear and vessel technology is in progress to promote small-scale fish production. We would appeal for further assistance toward the prevention of post-harvest losses, which is a major problem in small-scale fishing.
Kenya supports the principles and practice of rational management and optimum use for fisheries resources, and hence endorses the introduction of the legal instrument in 1989 that enables the continuous assessment of fisheries resources and updating of regulations to meet changing needs.
In this regard, Kenya, although by no means a deep-sea super-power, follows keenly the on-going debate on driftnet fishing or fishing on the high seas, and we wish to reiterate our concern that non-selective methods of fishing potentially lead to over-exploitation of inshore fisheries, upon which millions of artisanal fishermen and small national fishing fleets depend.
Kenya therefore objects to driftnet fishing and urges for implementation of strong measures to protect fishery resources against all forms of over-exploitation.
We also commend the intensive efforts being made by FAO in promoting aquaculture, and in this regard appreciate FAO's technical assistance to Kenya in the development of marine prawn farming along the Kenya coast. However, we call for further assistance for the exploration of other potential areas of aquaculture, such as oyster-culture and seaweed farming.
We also welcome technical cooperation with other developing countries strongly in this particular area.
Kenya shares its full commitment to rational management of fisheries resources that combine utilization with conservation of the aquatic ecosystem and that ensures sustainable production. We therefore support the concept of coastal zone management and request that this be extended to the lake basin fishing environment as well. In this regard we would call for more attention to be given to the coordinated plan for competing and conflicting uses of coastal and inland waters, such as fishing and tourist uses, with a view to optimizing benefits from aquatic resources.
Finally, Mr Chairman, we note with regret the review of the FAO World Programme for the 1990-91 biennium. and wish to express regret at the decline in extra-budgetary resources allocated to this important sector during the last three years. We strongly feel that the resultant sharp reduction in training and fisheries activities can only militate against progress in the implementation of the World Fisheries Conference strategies. We therefore urge for an improvement in the resources allocation for this sector and in particular in the programmes for national capacity-building and development.
Mme. Seloua EJJENNANE (Maroc): Ma délégation tient à féliciter le Secrétariat pour la qualité du document C 91/25 qui est à l'étude.
Pour ce qui est du Maroc, la phase du développement des pêches est presque achevée. Les pêches entament une nouvelle phase qui est celle de leur aménagement pour faire durer justement ce développement.
En effet, un développement durable des pêches nécessite une politique de préservation des ressources halieutiques et une gestion rationnelle de ces dernières. C'est pourquoi une cellule d'étude économique chargée de l'aménagement de nos pêcheries a été créée cette année au sein de la Direction des pêches maritimes et de l'aquaculture, du Ministère des pêches maritimes et de la marine marchande. Déjà, certains plans d'aménagement de nos pêcheries, notamment celui des céphalopodes et des petits pélagiques, sont en cours d'élaboration. Ces plans reprennent entre autres les recommandations de la Stratégie d'aménagement et de développement des pêches approuvées par la FAO en 1984.
M. le Président, je me joins au Mexique pour exprimer notre inquiétude quant à la diminution du budget de la FAO dans le domaine des pêches.
Ebrahim MAYGOLINEJAD (Iran, Islamic Republic of): On behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran I would like to express my appreciation to FAO and especially to the Secretariat and Dr Lindquist for his clear and constructive document and introduction.
We fully support the Strategy of fisheries management and development endorsed in the 1984 FAO World Fisheries Conference. We believe the developing countries, especially at present, need more training courses and the transfer of technology work plan. Strengthening national and regional organization has a great role in self-reliance and has to be fully supported by FAO.
Strategy N° 1 also plays an important role in fishery development especially for direct consumption, exchange earning and also the generating of new employment. Strategy N° 3 is also very important. The national policy-maker and planner needs to work more closely with FAO's experts through workshops or any other type of practical activity.
Aquaculture has a great role in fisheries production, present and future. Feeding and genetics are the main subjects in this regard.
Finally, we would like to express our support to paragraph 87 of document C 91/25. Once again, I would like to express our appreciation to FAO and the Fisheries Department.
E. Wayne DENNEY (United States of America): We will try to be very brief. The United States has, in both its 1986 and 1990 Progress Reports, offered the view that the Strategy of fisheries management and development is most useful to developing countries. Suggestions for changes in the preparation of future reports are therefore better left to the developing countries, and we do not have any specific comments on the matter of guidance. It is our view that the Commission on Fisheries is a more appropriate forum for such guidance and comments.
The United States suggests that the draft of the FAO publication referred to in paragraphs 84 and 87, which summarizes all national Progress Reports and debates and highlights the benefits derived, and proposals for a more rapid and streamlined implementation of the Strategy, be submitted for national review before final publication and before inclusion in the 1992 edition of the State of Food and Agriculture.
Mr Chairman, following the welcome precedent set by my colleague from Australia, we will also provide just a capsule of what we said in Commission I regarding the large-scale pelagic driftnet fishing. Briefly, the impact such fisheries have on the North Pacific marine environment have proved conclusively the wasteful nature and deleterious impact of this fishing technique on high seas living marine resources. To suggest that discussions within the UN General Assembly are politically motivated and without scientific basis is unfounded, in our view.
CHAIRMAN: The list of speakers in the morning session is over. The list of speakers for this afternoon's session is: Angola, Kuwait, Nepal, Chile, Cuba and India, and probably more. I will now adjourn this session. We reassemble at 2.30 hours. If you cooperate by coming back at half past two I will certainly do so.
The meeting rose at 12.45 hours.
La séance est levée à 12 h 45.
Se levanta la sesiÓn a las 12.45 horas.
