As the twenty-first century approaches, APFIC is facing increased responsibilities in assisting its Members to sustain the fisheries contribution to their food security and economies. As indicated earlier, the rising demand for fish from the increasing population of the region and from countries outside the region, as well as the continued open access to the fishery resources, have led to a steady decline in the abundance of inshore and coastal fishery resources and to overfishing in several major fishing grounds such as the Yellow Sea, the northern mainland shelf and the Gulf of Thailand. The challenges of this situation require scrutiny of the constraints in the Commission’s structure and past programmes of activity, with a view to rectifying them and revitalizing the Commission’s role.
The activities and achievements of the Commission mentioned in the previous section should not obscure the fact that more could have been accomplished to attain the long-term goal of fishery sustainability, had the Commission not been constrained, inter alia, by the following issues:
Since its inception, the work of APFIC has been financed entirely by the Regular Programme budget of FAO, although its constitution opens the way for the Commission to have its own budget. The allocation of annual budget by FAO covers mainly the costs of the meetings of the Commission (including interpreters, translators, temporary staff and printings). There has been no budget to cover other important programmes and projects relevant to fisheries management-oriented research and development.
Financial constraints of the Commission go back to the early seventies, when the Representative of FAO advised the Fifteenth Session of APFIC (1972) that the financial resources of FAO were limited, and prospects for improvement were not bright. The Commission was urged to consider financing its own activities and identifying methods whereby the Commission could more effectively carry out its programme of work. The financial limitations of FAO are still a significant problem. Attempts were made by the Commission to establish both mandatory and voluntary trust funds to support its programmes of work. Unfortunately, the response to the proposal from the Member States was very poor16. A number of delegations argued that they had already contributed their share in the form of membership dues to FAO.
At the Twenty-fifth Session (1996), the Commission again discussed the funding issue in relation to its enhanced responsibilities. Whilst noting that the core funding would continue to be provided by FAO, the Commission recognized that FAO might soon not be able to fund any of the Commission’s activities. It strongly recommended that the Members make every effort at meetings of the FAO Governing Bodies to ensure that fisheries be given high priority by the Organization. That session also discussed three possible options for contributions by the Members to facilitate the work of the Commission, viz., (i) annual contributions paid by Members on an agreed scale; (ii) voluntary contributions to a trust fund by countries participating in cooperative research and development projects; and (iii) the support of the delegates attending sessions of the Commission’s subsidiary bodies. However, no fruitful conclusions were reached at that session. Member Governments, therefore, should seriously consider appropriate action for resolving this funding issue, which has been an inherent problem of the Commission, impeding its progress for the past twenty years. It should be borne in mind that a contribution from each Member, even if marginal, would demonstrate political will and commitment to the responsibilities of APFIC. This would provide stronger leverage for the Secretariat when seeking extrabudgetary support for the Commission’s future activities17.
Participation of the Members in the work of the Commission both during its regular sessions and between sessions is another concern. During the sessions, it is observed that the deliberations are usually actively joined by delegates from developed countries but only a few from developing countries participate actively. The work pattern of the Commission on specific technical issues, employing working parties, during the past two decades, has experienced difficulties with the limited contributions of some experts who do not have the qualifications for the work required. In addition, attendance at the sessions has continued to be a problem. Recently the Tenth Session of the APFIC Committee on Marine Fisheries (COMAF), originally scheduled to be held in Cebu, the Philippines in October 1997 then in Bangkok, Thailand, in June 1998, had to be postponed due to the lack of a quorum. For the same reason, the First Session of the Aquaculture and Inland Fisheries Committee (AIFIC) of APFIC was postponed from November 1997 to July 1998 and again to July 1999.
The work of the Commission during intersessional periods has also experienced some constraints. An earlier survey made by the Secretariat revealed that during the five sessions between 1956-1964, the Commission adopted 253 resolutions and recommendations, out of which only 98 were implemented18. Many of these recommendations were directed to the Member Governments to consider implementing during the intersessional periods. The Commission was aware of the fact that the Member Governments were not bound by the Commission’s resolutions and recommendations and that FAO could only implement them within the limits of its financial resources. In addition, resolutions and recommendations directed to the Members may have lacked adequate follow-up. It is believed that, in some countries, lack of directives from higher authorities impedes the implementation of the recommendations, whilst in others, there are no adequate means and resources for such implementation.
The ideal Secretariat for the Commission would need not only a competent Secretary who has a good understanding of the fishery situation of the region, but also sufficient funds and technical staff support for the Commission’s work. At present, the Secretary of the Commission is handicapped by the lack of adequate funding and staff support, thus is unable to perform all the duties expected by the Commission in an effective manner.
Regular communication between the Secretariat and Member Governments is vital in improving the implementation of the Commission’s resolutions and recommendations. The mailing list must be frequently reviewed by the Secretariat so that the documents containing specific recommendations can be addressed to the right authorities in the member countries. The constraints mentioned in the previous paragraphs weakened the regular contacts between the Secretary and the authorities in the member countries.
The proliferation of regional bodies, programmes and projects in the Asia-Pacific region since the seventies seems to have affected the work of the Commission. The interest of the Members in the Commission’s activities seemed to wane when several other regional and sub-regional bodies and programmes began to flourish. It is ironic to see that several Members of APFIC are concurrently members of several of these bodies, many of which carry out the same programmes of activity. This duplication of effort is considered one of the constraints affecting the work of the Commission since it drains the scarce development assistance funds.
The Commission should note with concern that, in the near future, funds from FAO may be very limited and that this will have a negative impact on the Commission’s work if it depends entirely on the FAO budget. The Twenty-ninth Session of the FAO Conference in 1997 adopted Resolution 13/97 which will have far-reaching implications on the work of APFIC. Under this Resolution, the vision of the Conference is to move towards increased self-financing for its Statutory Bodies that have a regional focus, whilst enhancing the responsiveness of these Bodies to the needs of their members. The Resolution, inter alia, requests the Bodies concerned to consider abolishing their subsidiary bodies19. In the case of APFIC, this would mean the abolishment of the four working parties established by the Twenty-fourth Session of APFIC in 1993 (Appendix 12).
Finally, the Commission should be aware of the fact that, in moving into the twenty-first century, it has a new mandate and enhanced responsibilities to assist its Members to attain the long-term objective of self-reliance in the sustainable development of their fisheries, and its success or failure will depend on how the Commission alleviates the above constraints, especially when its subsidiary bodies will not be supported by FAO in the future.
