The Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI), which is based in Cairo at the FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa, will hold the Special Meeting on RECOFI Consolidation and Development at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, during the period from 11 to 12 May 2010.

 

The meeting will be attended by delegations from the eight RECOFI Member (Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), in addition to the FAO Secretariat of the Commission.

 

The meeting is a follow-up to the Fifth Session of RECOFI that was held in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in May 2009 during which the Commission agreed to hold an ad hoc intersessional meeting to consider ways and means to enhance RECOFI’s role.

 

Members of RECOFI recognize the need to streamline the work of the Commission to make it more efficient and to accelerate its growth. The objectives of the special meeting are to: (i) assess the technical performance of the RECOFI; (ii) consider the organization and functioning of other Regional Fishery Management Organizations in the world; (iii) as an example of ii, exchange information and learn from the experience gained by General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean; and (iv) consider and formulate options for the future of RECOFI to be submitted for consideration by the Commission at its Sixth Session in May 2011.

 

The meeting on RECOFI Consolidation and Development is an important opportunity for Members to lay the foundation of a new phase supporting a more viable Commission able to increasingly deliver services and assistances to its Members for the wealth of regional fisheries and fishing communities.

 

RECOFI was established in 1999 to promote the development, conservation, rational management and best utilization of living marine resources as well as the sustainable development of aquaculture in the region.