82. After the presentations by the national representatives some of the salient interventions from the floor included the following:
There are significant differences between fishing vessel classifications that could preclude some comparisons such as, fishing power for statistical purposes. It was suggested that attempts to standardize definitions might assist in clearing up such discrepancies.
The need for rationalization of regulations especially for managing the fishing of the highly migratory large pelagic fish species associated with moored FAD was identified, for example, regulations to mitigate against the harvesting of the juveniles below an agreed size.
It was noted that moored FAD may reduce selectivity and also attract small specimens of the large pelagic fish species. The response elicited by this comment was that the same moored FAD attracted also large specimens of the same or associated species-groups deeper in the water column than the juvenile at the surface did. It was then suggested that an appropriate strategy should be to direct the fishing gear to the deeper reaches of the FAD.
The potential for conflicts was identified in countries where there are no formal regulations to govern the activities of fishers around FADS. It was suggested that governments should construct, deploy, and manage activities around them, or attempt to establish partnerships with fisher-groups to manage the FAD jointly.
The issue of conflicts between fishers from neighbouring countries where FAD are deployed near to poorly demarcated maritime boundaries was discussed. While agreeing that cooperation among the fishers on both sides were desirable, it was also recognized that the underlying issues were policy and political in nature - involving delimitation agreements in the first instance.
