| English | The FAO Workshop on the Status of Shared Fisheries Resources in the Northern
Arabian Sea ¿ Iran (Islamic Republic of), Oman and Pakistan was held in Muscat,
Oman, from 13 to 15 December 2010. In the last three years, the Government of
Pakistan, and especially the Marine Fisheries Department in Karachi, has invested to
reinvigorate the stock assessment capacity of the department. A multiyear project
involving stock assessments, including marine surveys, is in place through technical
assistance from the FAO. Even at this early stage, the new data have largely confirmed
the parlous state of many of Pakistan¿s marine fishery resources and leave little doubt
that overexploitation is the principal reason for this. More work is needed, and much is
already under way, to provide clear and specific management recommendations, but the
direction and scope of the action needed is already clear.
Some of the most valuable resources in question are not limited to Pakistan¿s waters but
are shared with regional neighbours or more widely on the high seas. Effective action to
ensure sustainable fisheries in Pakistan can only come about if those sharing the
resources act in concert. To this end, the Government of Pakistan proposed that the
FAO convene a meeting with the two neighbours most immediately affecting
Pakistan¿s shared marine resources ¿ Iran (Islamic Republic of) and Oman. The
meeting was to identify the stocks of most concern in this regard, look into immediate
ways to coordinate and improve the stock assessment efforts among the three countries,
and to look forward to ways to set and achieve management goals jointly for these
shared resources. To support the convening of this meeting, the FAO Unilateral Trust
Fund (UTF) project ¿Support to Fishery Resources Appraisal in Pakistan¿ sponsored
the travel and expenses of the meeting, and the Sultanate of Oman graciously agreed to
host the meeting in Muscat. |
