1. The Ad Hoc Meeting on Management of Deepwater Fisheries Resources of the Southern Indian Ocean was held in Swakopmund, from 30 May to 1 June 2001. It was attended by eight national government officers from four countries, four managers of commercial fishing companies from five countries, two representatives from fishing industry organizations and two officers from the Fisheries Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization.
2. The list of those attending the meeting is given in Appendix II. The documents that were addressed by the Meeting, revisions and subsequent papers that have become available are in Appendix III.
3. Dr Burger Oelofsen, Director, Resource Management Department, opened the meeting and welcomed the participants on behalf of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Namibia. Dr Ross Shotton, Fisheries Department, FAO, Rome, explained the background to the meeting, which was being held at the request made at the Intergovernmental Consultation on the establishment of a South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission held in St Denis, La Reunion France, 6 - 9 February 2001
4. In the first item of business, the Meeting elected Dr Ben Van Zyl, Ministry of Marine Resources and Fisheries, Swakopmund, Namibia as chairman for the Meeting. Mr Johnny Kathena (also of the Ministry of Marine Resources and Fisheries, Swakopmund) acted as Rapporteur.
5. The Meeting adopted the agenda as given in Appendix I.
6. All discussions were held in plenary and the floor was equally available to government, commercial operators, industry organization representatives and observers.
