The Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) was established in 1948 and has undergone various reforms since then to adapt to the changing international governance of fisheries as well as reforms in the function and resourcing of FAO’s regional fishery bodies. This gradually induced a major crisis in the commission’s ability to develop and execute a work programme for servicing its members....

This document reviews and analyses the background to the development of APFIC as a Regional Consultative Forum. The consultant’s report addresses the question “How can APFIC act as a consultative forum that is responsive to Members needs?” and is provided in the first instance for the deliberations of the APFIC Executive Committee.    Part 1 of the document acknowledges the importance of fisheries...

This document reviews the need for strengthening the role of regional fishery bodies in Asia-Pacific. Rapid fisheries development is taking place in the region resulting in the depletion of many fish stocks. Regional bodies should be provided with proper mandates to ensure the environmental sustainability of fisheries resources. As for APFIC, the meeting suggested that it concentrate its activities in...

Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) - report of the APFIC special session, Rome, Italy, 17 February 1999 and report of the ad hoc legal and financial working group Bangkok, Thailand, 6-8 July 1999 At the Twenty-sixth Session of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) held in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, 24-30 September 1998, the Commission reviewed the activities and achievements of APFIC...

International cooperation in fisheries does not constitute a recent and novel development in the history of relations among nations. Already in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries several treaties were concluded with a view to solving, among other things, problems which, at that time, were mainly related to fishing rights, the safety of fishing vessels, rescue operations, and access to foreign...