Overcapacity is a key factor contributing to the decline in many of the world’s fisheries. The FAO International Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity (IPOA-Capacity) encourages States to address this problem by aligning fishing capacity with sustainable use of their fish stocks. The recently-published FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries Fisheries Management - Managing fishing capacity (No. 4, Suppl. 3) is intended to help stakeholders, fisheries managers and policy-makers in the development of national and regional plans of action for the management of fishing capacity. The guidelines outline the key concepts and techniques for monitoring, measuring and assessing capacity, and they provide information about the design and effects of different management programmes on fishing capacity.
