Report of the
IOC/FAO/IOTC SYMPOSIUM AND WORKSHOP
TO STRENGTHEN PORT STATE MEASURES
IN THE INDIAN OCEAN
Port Louis, Mauritius,
18-22 June 2007

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FAO.
Reports of the IOC/FAO/IOTC Symposium and Workshop to Strengthen Port State Measures in the Indian Ocean. Port Louis, Mauritius, 18-22 June 2007.
FAO Fisheries Report. No. 844. Rome, FAO. 2007. 69p.

ABSTRACT

This document contains the reports of the IOC/FAO/IOTC [Indian Ocean Commission/Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/Indian Ocean Tuna Commission] Symposium and Workshop to Strengthen Port State Measures in the Indian Ocean held in Port Louis, Mauritius, from 18 to 22 June 2007. Participants included representatives from governments, industry, regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and civil society.

The Symposium was held from 18 to 20 June 2007 with the purpose of raising general awareness about the potential effectiveness of strengthened and coordinated port State measure and to develop national capacity and promote regional coordination so that countries would be better placed to improve the management of offshore fisheries and combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Indian Ocean and, as a result, meet the requirements of relevant RFMOs. The Symposium addressed a broad range of issues fundamental to the implementation of effective port State measures. Issues and initiatives addressed in the Symposium included the international and regional frameworks for port State measures, the legal tools and mechanisms that might be used to implement such measures, the role of information systems, human resource development and stakeholder actions.

The Workshop was held immediately following the Symposium from 21 to 22 June 2007. It focused on participatory exercises and problem solving activities based on the knowledge acquired during the Symposium. Working Groups were formed and case studies used to enhance knowledge and skills relating to port State measures as a means of combating IUU fishing. Exercises included the practical application of port State measures, strengthening standards for port State measures and the “Bold Beauty” case study.

The anticipated outcomes of the Symposium and Workshop were to raise participants’ awareness of the deleterious effects of weak management of offshore fisheries, including IUU fishing, and the need for strengthened and coordinated port State measures; assure comprehensive understanding of the regional requirements and relevant international instruments and their relation to participants’ countries; reach a clear understanding of the role of administrative arrangements in maximizing the effectiveness of port State measures; reach a clear understanding of the operational and technical requirements for effective port State measures; reach a clear understanding of the human capacity development needs and training initiatives for port State measures; identify steps that national fisheries administrations might take to develop their port State measures that implement regional requirements, the FAO Model Scheme and relevant measures in the 2001 FAO International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IPOA-IUU); build shared understanding and harmonization, as appropriate, of port State measures needed in the region to manage offshore fisheries and combat IUU fishing; build an improved understanding of the basis for the development of a binding international instrument on port State measures.

The convenors of the Symposium and Workshop expected that they would result in improved capacity for countries to strengthen and coordinate their port State measures with the objective of better managing offshore fisheries and deterring IUU fishing.

The Symposium and Workshop were funded jointly by IOC, IOTC and FAO. The contribution from FAO came from the Regular Programme, the Trust Fund for Port State Measures (GCP/INT/032/NOR) and the FishCode Programme (Training and Awareness for Responsible Fisheries project (MTF/GLO/125/MUL (01-Sweden))