First PSMA Regional Coordination Meeting held in Fiji
The first in a series of week-long regional coordination meetings to discuss the implementation of the 2009 FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, was held in hybrid form, in Nadi, Fiji, from 2-6 May 2022.
The meeting brought together 15 States with an interest in the region including all countries in the region that are Parties to the PSMA, the European Union which is a Party to the PSMA on behalf of its member States, other FAO Members from the Southwest and East Pacific region, countries with an interest in fishing in the region, and representatives of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCFPF) and the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO).
PSMA Regional Coordination Meetings were first called for by Tonga’s Minister of Fisheries at the first meeting of the Parties hosted by Norway in 2017. More recently, in light of decisions taken during the third meeting of the Parties to the PSMA which, in 2021, suggested the setting up of a PSMA Strategy ad hoc Working Group to discuss the development of a strategy to improve the effectiveness of the Agreement, the Parties concurred on the holding of regional or sub-regional discussions in support of this working group.
This first PSMA Regional Coordination Meeting agreed on a set of conclusions including proposals to improve the implementation of the PSMA at regional level.
Participants also discussed the challenges encountered in the implementation of the Agreement, and implementation strategies for regional port State measures including through relevant Regional Fishery Bodies. Parties also coordinated preparations in relation to the PSMA Strategy ad hoc Working Group, to be held later in 2022, and the fourth meeting of the Parties to the PSMA, to be held in 2023 in Indonesia.
The regional coordination meeting in Fiji was held under the patronage of the Government of Fiji, with the financial support of the Government of Norway.
More regional coordination meetings are planned for 2022. More information is available here.