9. The Meeting recalled that the effectiveness of the Commission will depend on the spirit and form in which a few key issues were addressed in the draft Agreement. These issues are: geographical area of competence, membership, budget, financial arrangements and the functions of the Commission. It agreed to review these issues before undertaking a review of the other articles of the revised draft Agreement.
10. The Meeting acknowledged that there were other regional fishery bodies (existing or in the process of being established) whose area of competence extended to the limits of South West Indian Ocean. The Meeting also recognised that while the geographical area of competence of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) covers the area that might fall within the jurisdiction of the future commission, the future commission was not expected to deal with tuna and tuna- like species. The meeting noted that information on the existence of deepwater resources in the area was not taken into account during the first meeting. It was further noted that to limit the proliferation of regional fishery bodies and illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing it was necessary to ensure full coverage of the South West Indian Ocean.
11. In this regard the Meeting agreed as follows:
"Except as otherwise provided, this Agreement applies within the Agreement Area, being all waters of the Indian Ocean bounded by a line drawn as follows: from a point on the high water mark on the East African coast at latitude 10° 00´N, thence due east along this parallel to the longitude 65° 00´E, thence due south along this meridian to the equator, thence due east along this parallel to the longitude 80° 00´E, thence due south along this meridian to a parallel 45° 00´S, thence due east along this parallel to the longitude 30° 00´E, thence due north along this meridian to the coast of the African Continent. as shown in the map in Annex 1 " (Appendix F of this report).
12. After a constructive discussion, the Meeting agreed on the following wording of the paragraphs of Article III on Membership:
"1. The Members of the Commission shall be such Members and associate members of FAO and such non-Member States as are Members of the United Nations, any of its Specialized Agencies or the International Atomic Energy Agency, that are:
(i) coastal States or associate members situated wholly or partly within the Area defined in Article II,
(ii) States or associate members whose vessels engage in fishing in the Region,
(iii) regional economic integration organizations of which any State referred to in subparagraphs (i) or above is a member and to which that State has transferred competence over matters within the purview of this Agreement ,
and that accept this Agreement in accordance with the provisions of Article XIV".
"2. The Commission may, by a two-third majority of its membership admit to membership such other States that are not Members of FAO but are Members of the United Nations or of any of its Specialized Agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency provided that such States are coastal states situated wholly or partly within the Area or are States whose vessels engage in fishing in the Area defined in Article II and have submitted an application for memberships and a declaration made in a formal instrument that they accept this Agreement as in force at the time of acceptance in accordance with Article XIV" .
13. The Meeting noted that in view of the geographical area of competence of the future Commission that it had defined (paragraph 11) and bearing in mind that the future commission would be established under Article XIV of the FAO Constitution, conservation and management of fisheries resources should be important functions of the proposed body. Therefore, the Meeting agreed that those functions of the future commission pertaining to conservation and management of fisheries resources that were deleted from the provisional draft agreement at the First Ad hoc Technical Meeting should be reinserted, as appropriate. Similarly it was agreed that the issue relative to the application of the precautionary approach should be further elaborated.
14. Taking into account the above considerations, the article relevant to the functions of the future Commission is as follows:
"1. The purpose of SWIOFC shall be to promote the sustainable development, conservation, rational management and best utilization of fisheries resources in the area, with special emphasis on fisheries targeted at non-tuna species.
2. To these ends, it shall have the following functions and responsibilities:
(a) to keep under review the state of these resources, including their abundance and the level of their exploitation, as well as the state of the fisheries based thereon;
(b) to address, through co-operation and collaboration as well as through shared and conjugated action by the Parties, the problems and issues that are common in the area and, in particular, to formulate and recommend, in accordance with the provisions of Article VI2, appropriate measures regarding inter alia the following:
- development of common methodologies for the management of the fisheries resources;
- training, capacity building and technology transfer;
- elaboration and application, as appropriate, of policies;
- control of illegal, unregulated, unreported fishing (IUU fishing);
- harmonization of legislation and standardization of information and data collection systems and dissemination of such information;
- protection of coastal zones and reef fisheries;
- sharing of facilities including joint and complementary fishing research activities including stock assessment;
- promotion of research on fisheries, environmental and oceanographic characteristics and dynamics in the SWIOFC area ;
- conservation and rational management for shared and transboundary stocks or resources throughout their range, including measures:
- regulating fishing methods and fishing gear,
- prescribing the minimum size for individuals of specified species,
- establishing open and closed fishing seasons and areas,
- regulating the amount of total catch and of fishing effort and their allocation among Members,
- establishment of effective Monitoring, Control and Surveillance systems and discouraging vessels flying flags of non-members or non-participants from engaging in activities that undermine the effectiveness of conservation and management measures;
(c) For the implementation of the recommendations provided for in (b) above:
- to keep under review the economic and social aspects of the fishing industry and recommend any measures aimed at its development;
- to encourage, recommend, co-ordinate and, as appropriate, undertake training and extension activities in all aspects of fisheries;
- to encourage, recommend, co-ordinate and, as appropriate, undertake research and development activities, including co-operative projects in the areas of fisheries and the protection of fisheries resources;
- to assemble, publish or disseminate information regarding fisheries resources;
- to carry out such other activities as may be necessary for SWIOFC to achieve its purposes as defined above.
3. When formulating and recommending measures under paragraph 2b) above, the SWIOFC shall apply the precautionary approach to conservation and management decisions, and take into account also the best scientific evidence available and the need to promote the development and proper utilization of fisheries resources.
- The SWIOFC shall be more cautious when information is uncertain, unreliable, or inadequate. The absence of adequate scientific information shall not be used as a reason for postponing or failing to take conservation and management measures.
- The SWIOFC shall take cognisance of best international practices regarding the application of the precautionary approach, including Annex II of the 1995 Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (Fish Stocks Agreement) and the 1995 Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF)."
15. The Meeting acknowledged that in the absence of an autonomous budget, the future commission to be established under Article XIV of the FAO Constitution could not fulfil its mandate. The Meeting in its discussion alluded to the criteria for the establishment of the contribution to be paid by each Member as well as the scheme of contributions. It however agreed that the Commission will take up this matter when it becomes operational.
16. In this context, the Meeting adopted the following wording for the paragraph relating to finance:
"Each Member undertakes to pay its share of the autonomous budget of SWIOFC in accordance with the criteria included in the Financial Regulations of the Commission that it will adopt".
17. The Meeting reviewed the other articles of the revised draft agreement. The agreed changes will be incorporated by the Secretariat and the updated draft agreement will be forwarded to the delegations by 1 October 2000.
18. The Meeting suggested that there should be a glossary of terms as part of the agreement for the future commission.
19. The Meeting elaborated a Preamble to the draft Agreement. Among other things the preamble noted the wishes expressed by the Coastal States to the FAO Council to have established a regional fishery body, acknowledged that the future body will take into account the relevant provisions of international fisheries instruments in its work, recognized the economic and geographical considerations and the special requirements of developing States and their coastal communities, for equitable benefit from fisheries resources and expressed the conviction of all Contracting Parties that the establishment of an organization for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources in the South West Indian Ocean would best serve these purposes.
1 The Mauritius delegation expressed strong reservation on the possibility for a State to become a party to the Agreement on behalf of an overseas territory (the Chagos Archipelago) which forms part of the State of Mauritius under the Constitution of the Republic of Mauritius
2 Refers to the article relevant to "Recommendations on Management Measures"
