REPORT OF THE WORKSHOP REPRESENTATIVES

63. The Workshop Representatives identified a number of issues that could have been more comprehensively addressed in the Workshop. These issues were:

• Enforcement by the flag State. For high seas that are covered by RFMO Convention areas, the consent of flag States must be obtained if a vessel is to be boarded and inspected. This issue will continue to pose a problem as the principle of fishing on the high seas has not been separated from the treaty obligations that govern a particular high seas management area. This aspect should have been considered in the Workshop.
• There should have been a basic background in law of the sea issues as an introduction to the Workshop so as to enable officials who were not lawyers to appreciate the flag State responsibilities including the basis of fisheries powers and enforcement in waters under national jurisdiction.
• Implementation of IUU fishing measures by will pose problems because their rules and scope of species management vary. Many have organizations have outdated MCS frameworks. Furthermore, there may be overlaps in responsibilities and as a consequence some practical problems may surface.
• For issues under national jurisdiction, operators of fishing vessels and their responsibilities need strengthening. There should be clarity on what constitutes IUU fishing under national law.
• For the Pacific Islands region, guidance was needed on how to address IUU fishing under the obligations of the Convention for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
• Procedures for the blacklisting of vessels required further elaboration. How should such vessels be dealt with? For vessels fishing in EEZs, how might countries strengthen license conditions or access arrangements? Should blacklisting be considered permanent or could it be lifted when a vessel improved its performance?
• Governance issues and IUU fishing needed to be addressed together. It may be pointless to have a strong MCS framework when governance jeopardizes the regulation of IUU fishing.
• As a region, countries should be conscious of the wider implications of open registry issues and their linkages with IUU fishing. The advantages and disadvantages of open registries should be considered and countries should be provided guidance as to why there may be a direct connection with IUU fishing.
• NPOAs-IUU should not include strategically sensitive information because such information could render advantages to IUU fishers that have access to these plans. Many NPOAs-IUU required subplans of actions to facilitate implementation. For example, legislative review priorities needed to be developed by each country to complement NPOA-IUU.
• NPOAs-IUU are non-binding and there are no initial reporting requirements to FAO when a NPOA-IUU is adopted by a country. Nonetheless, IUU fishing is a substantive issue for the Pacific Islands region and several FAO resolutions and declarations have been made in recent years, demonstrating the international importance of such fishing. It would be prudent for FFA and FAO to seek to incorporate IUU fishing issues into workable frameworks such as the minimum terms and conditions of access to waters of Pacific Island countries so that action against IUU fishing in national legislation and priorities would be strengthened.
• National coordination needed to be improved so as to facilitate the development and implementation of NPOAs-IUU.
• There was no regional database on IUU fishing and related activities for information sharing internationally or in the Pacific Islands region. Efforts to address this gap would considerably assist countries in the region.
• Trade and market-related measures were not discussed in full in the Workshop and these issues required further elaboration in the context of IUU fishing. The question was posed as to how would IUU fishing matters and trade sanctions be dealt with in the context of inshore and offshore fisheries?

64. Overall the workshop went well in terms of creating an environment where officials could talk freely together and in group discussions. There needed to be future workshops to guide countries on some of the substantive issues on fishing and not just developing NPOAs-IUU. It would be helpful if FFA and FAO collaborated to improve the dissemination of information on issues of regional importance and how to improve measures to combat IUU fishing.