Report of the FAO/APFIC Regional Workshop on Port State Measures to Combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing for the South Asian Subregion. Bangkok, 10–13 February 2009.
This document contains the report of the FAO/APFIC Regional Workshop on Port State Measures to Combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing for the South Asian Subregion, which was held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 10 to 13 February 2009.
The objective of the Workshop was to develop national capacity and promote bilateral, subregional and/or regional coordination so that countries would be better placed to strengthen and harmonize port State measures and, as a result, implement further the 2001 FAO International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, the 2005 FAO Model Scheme on Port State Measures to Combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and the Chairperson’s Draft Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, if and when it enters into force.
The Workshop addressed: the background and framework for port State measures; subregional and regional approaches to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and the implementation of port State measures; the Chairperson’s Draft Agreement and the role of the Asia Pacific Fishery Commission; national coordination and implementation of port State measures, and perspectives on port State measures, including responses to the FAO questionnaire that was circulated prior to the Workshop to collect information relating to port State measures in the South Asian subregion. Working groups were formed to enhance the participatory nature of the Workshop and as a means of engendering broader and deeper discussion on concepts and issues relating to port State measures. In the first exercise, participants addressed multidisciplinary aspects of port State measures, and in the second exercise, thematic issues were considered.
The final session of the Workshop entitled “Looking ahead: and agenda for the subregion on port State measures” sought to identify key issues to be addressed by countries after the Workshop. Funding and support for the Workshop were provided by the FAO Regular Programme and by the Governments of Norway, Sweden and the United States of America.