Appendix A. Agenda
Appendix B. List of Participants
Appendix C. List of Documents
Appendix D. APFIC Seminar on Fisheries 2000s: Prospectus
Appendix E. Provisional Agenda and Timetable of the Twenty-seventh Session of APFIC
Appendix F. Summary of Main Recommendations/Decisions
1. Opening of the Session
2. Adoption of the Agenda
3. Inter-sessional Activities of APFIC
4. Report of the Ad hoc Legal and Financial Working Group
5. Future direction of APFIC
6. Preparations for the Twenty-seventh Session of APFIC
7. Any other matters
8. Date and Place of the Sixty-ninth Session
9. Adoption of the Report
MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Atty. Malcolm I. Sarmiento, Jr. |
Chairman of APFIC |
Director |
|
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources |
|
Quezon City, Metro Manila |
|
PHILIPPINES |
|
|
|
Dr. Vu Van Trieu |
Vice Chairman |
Deputy Director-General |
|
International Cooperation Department |
|
Ministry of Fisheries |
|
Hanoi |
|
SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM |
|
|
|
Mr. Yang Jian |
Out-going Chairman |
Director-General |
|
Bureau of Fisheries |
|
Ministry of Agriculture |
|
Beijing |
|
PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA |
|
|
|
Mr. Kengo Tanaka |
Member |
Deputy Director |
|
International Affairs Division |
|
Fisheries Agency |
|
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries |
|
Tokyo |
|
JAPAN |
|
|
|
Mr. G. Piyasena |
Member |
Director, Planning and Monitoring |
|
Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic |
|
Resources Development |
|
Colombo |
|
SRI LANKA |
|
|
|
Dr. Veravat Hongskul |
Ex officio Member |
APFIC Secretary |
|
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific |
|
Bangkok |
|
Thailand |
|
Mr. Liu Qian-Fei
Programme Officer and Interpreter
International Cooperation Division
Ministry of Agriculture
Beijing
PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Mr. Masao Matsumoto
First Secretary and Deputy Permanent
Representative of Japan to ESCAP
Embassy of Japan
Bangkok
THAILAND
FAO
Dr. Benedict Satia
Chief, International Institutions and Liaison
Service
Fishery Policy and Planning Division
Fisheries Department
Rome
Italy
Mr. Antonio Tavares
Legal Officer
Office of the Legal Counsel
Rome
Italy
APFIC Secretariat
Dr. Heiko Seilert
Associate Professional Officer (Marine Fisheries)
Ms. Pornsuda David
Technical Assistant
Ms. Kesara Aotarayakul
Secretary
Working Documents:
APFIC:ExCo/68/1 |
Provisional Agenda |
APFIC:ExCo/68/2 |
Intersessional Activities of APFIC |
APFIC:ExCo/68/3 |
Report of the Ad hoc Legal and Financial Working Group,
Bangkok, Thailand, 6-8 July 1999 |
APFIC:ExCo/68/4 |
APFIC: Its Changing Role |
APFIC:ExCo/68/5 |
Provisional Agenda for the Twenty-seventh Session of APFIC,
Cebu, Philippines, 8-16 November 2000 |
APFIC:ExCo/68/6. Rev.1 |
Draft Prospectus of APFIC Seminar: Fisheries 2000s |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf.1, Rev.1 |
Provisional List of Documents |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf. 2, Rev.1 |
List of Participants |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf. 3 |
Report of the Sixty-seventh Session of APFIC Executive
Committee, Bangkok, Thailand, 10-12 June 1998 |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf. 4 |
Fish Utilization in Asia and the Pacific. Proceedings of the
APFC Symposium, Beijing, PRC, 24-26 September 1998 |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf. 5 |
Report of the Twenty-sixth Session of APFIC, Beijing, PRC,
24-30 September 1998 |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf. 6 |
Report of the Meeting of the Ad hoc Working Group of
Experts in Food Safety, Bangkok, Thailand, 15-17 March 1999 |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf. 7 |
Report of the Meeting of the Ad hoc Working Group of
Experts in Capture Fishery Data Collection, Bangkok, Thailand, 7-9 September
1999 |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf.7, add.1 |
Guidelines for the routine collection of capture fishery data,
FAO Fisheries Tech. Paper 382 |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf. 8 |
Report of the Ad hoc Working Group of Experts in Rural
Aquaculture, Bangkok, Thailand, 20-22 October 1999 |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf. 9 |
Into the next millennium: fishery perspective |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf.10 |
Resolution 1/116 of the FAO Council at its Hundred and
Sixteenth Session, Rome, 14-19 June 1999 |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf.11 |
The Phuket Resolution of the Advisory Committee of the Bay of
Bengal Programme, 16 October 1999 |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf.12 |
International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of
Seabirds in Longline Fisheries; International Plane of Action for the
Conservation and Management of Sharks; International Plan of Action for the
Management of Fishing Capacity. FAO, Rome, 1999. |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf.13 |
Aquaculture Development Beyond 2000: The Bangkok Declaration
and Strategy. Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millenium, 20-25 February
2000, Bangkok, Thailand |
APFIC:ExCo/68/Inf.14 |
Questionnaire for Monitoring the Implementation of the Code of
Conduct for Responsible Fisheries |
BACKGROUND
The adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982 paved the way for a legal framework to better marine resources management. This legal regime of the ocean has given coastal States rights and responsibilities for the management and use of marine living resources within their exclusive economic zones (EEZs) which embrace some 90 percent of the worlds marine fisheries. However, many coastal States continue to face serious challenges such as lack of experience as well as financial and physical resources they sought to retract greater benefits from fisheries within their EEZs. By the late 1980s, it became clear that fishery resources could no longer sustain the rapid and often uncontrolled exploitation, and that new approaches to fisheries management embracing conservation and environmental considerations were urgently needed.
The FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) at its Nineteenth Session in March 1991 called for the development of new concepts which would lead to responsible, sustained fisheries. Subsequently, the global Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries was developed and unanimously adopted at the FAO Conference in October 1995. The FAO Ministerial Meeting on Fisheries, held in Rome in March 1999, called upon all users of fishery resources to apply the Code of Conduct and asked FAO to continue its efforts to strengthen the functions and responsibilities of FAO regional fishery bodies and their cooperation with other regional fishery management bodies in order to effectively implement the Code.
The Declaration on the Implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, adopted at the Ministerial Meeting on Fisheries in March 1999, further stressed the needs to seek the optimum and sustainable use of the worlds fishery resources, to reduce wastage and destructive fishing practices by promoting responsible fishery practices, effective and integrated fishery monitoring, adopting an ecosystem approach in fisheries management and encouraging further growth in sustainable aquaculture, thus securing the contribution of fisheries to national economic and social goals and to attainment of world food security as committed by the global community at the World Food Summit in 1996. However, the full implementation of the Code and the subsequent International Plans of Action would require considerable resources as well as a reorientation of the current fishery policies and programmes in many Member States to ensure effective implementation of the measures adopted.
The Ministerial Roundtable on Sustainable Agricultural Development and Poverty Alleviation in the Next Millennium, organized by the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand, in June 1999, exchanged views and experiences of various countries in the Asia-Pacific region in coping with the challenges of sustainable agricultural development. It was pointed out that, beyond the current Asian economic crisis, developing countries in the region would have to confront enormous development problems and policy challenges. Rising population levels, shrinking agricultural lands, increasing demand on limited water and living resources, widespread land degradation and inadequacy of governance infrastructure appear to be more pressing. These issues, however, cannot be divorced from policy matters impinging on poverty and food security in the region.
In order to face these challenges, sectoral reviews on policies concerning major agricultural components such as agriculture, fisheries, forestry, livestock, and irrigation in the region should be conducted. Moreover, the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific, at its Twenty-fourth Session in 1998, has recommended the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) to seek harmonization of national fishery policies with a view towards attaining the sustainability of fishery resources, including transboundary and straddling and highly migratory fish stocks (Para. 30 of the Report). In accordance to this recommendation, APFIC will convene a Seminar on Fisheries 2000s in conjunction with its Twenty-seventh Session in Cebu, the Philippines, from 8 to 10 November 2000.
OBJECTIVES
The Seminar aims to discuss fishery perspective for Asia and the Pacific in the new millennium and to address fishery policies and programmes required to meet the new challenges in implementing the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and other relevant international agreements or arrangements to ensure sustainable fisheries and their contribution to food security in the region.
For these purposes, the Seminar will:
ORGANIZATION OF THE SEMINAR
The Seminar will be organized by APFIC, in cooperation with the FAO Fisheries Department and the Policy Assistance Branch (RAPP) of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. It will be based on global and regional overview reports, national/regional assessment reports and experiences from implementation of fishery programmes/projects in Member States and regional fishery bodies.
TENTATIVE SESSIONS
1. Contribution of fisheries to food security in the region;PARTICIPATION2. Overview of current status and trends in capture fisheries in Asia and the Pacific;
3. Implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and other international plans of action;
4. Fishery policies and planning in facing new challenges; and
5. Fishery Sector Outlook Study.
Participation will be open to senior officials concerned with fishery administration in Member States of APFIC, United Nations agencies, intergovernmental bodies, bilateral agencies and donor governments.
The costs involved in the attendance of participants at the APFIC Seminar will be the responsibility of the participants themselves or of the Agencies they represent.
WORKING LANGUAGE AND DOCUMENTATION
The Seminar will be conducted in English and all documentation will be in that language.
Cebu, the Philippines, 8-16 November 2000
Provisional Agenda and Timetable
8 November 2000
0900 hrs |
Opening of the Session (Informal) |
0930 - 1700 hrs |
Seminar on Fisheries 2000s |
0900-1700 hrs |
Seminar on Fisheries 2000s (continued) |
Excursion (to be organized by BFAR)
13 November 2000
1000 hrs |
1. Opening Ceremony (Formal) |
|
|
|
|
1045 hrs |
2. Adoption of the Agenda and arrangements for the
Session |
|
|
3. Report of the APFIC Seminar on Fisheries 2000s |
|
1400 hrs |
4. Inter-sessional activities of APFIC and matters referred
for the attention of the Commission: |
|
|
|
4.1 Report of the Ad hoc Working Group of Experts in
Food Safety, Bangkok, 15-17 March 1999; |
|
|
4.2 Report of the Ad hoc Working Group of Experts in
Capture Fishery Data Collection, Bangkok, 7-9 September 1999; |
|
|
4.3 Report of the Ad hoc Working Group of Experts in
Rural Aquaculture, Bangkok, 20-22 October 1999; |
0900 hrs |
4. Inter-sessional activities of APFIC (cont) |
|
|
|
4.4 Report of the Ad hoc Legal and Financial Working
Group, Bangkok, 6-8 July 1999; and |
|
|
4.5 Report of the APFIC Executive Committee, Sixty-eighth
Session, Bangkok, 5-7 July 2000. |
1045 hrs |
5. Future Direction of APFIC |
0900 hrs |
5. Future Direction of APFIC (cont) |
1400 hrs |
6. APFIC Subsidiary Bodies |
|
7. Global Emerging Issues in Fisheries Development and
Management of Relevance to the Asia-Pacific Region |
|
8. Other Matters |
|
9. Election of Officers |
|
10. Date and Place for the Twenty-eighth Session |
1400 hrs |
11. Adoption of the Report |
(1) The Committee endorsed the reports of the three ad hoc technical working groups of experts established by the Commission. (paragraph 11 of the Report).
(2) The Committee commended the Secretariat for the completion of various activities as directed by the Commission during the inter-sessional period and directed that reports of the working groups and the report on inter-sessional activities be submitted to the Commission at its next session. (paragraphs 16 & 17 of the Report).
(3) The Committee commended the work carried out by the Ad hoc Legal and Financial Working Group. (paragraph 25 of the Report).
(4) The Committee recognized that countries bordering the Yellow Sea already concluded bilateral agreements on fisheries, thus there is no need for any APFIC programme. Nonetheless, APFIC could assist in providing information on fisheries in this subregion as and when required. (paragraph 31 of the Report).
(5) The Committee agreed that the Bay of Bengal should be a priority geographical area for the activities of APFIC. (paragraph 31 of the Report).
(6) The Committee agreed that there are urgent needs in strengthening the collection and dissemination of fishery statistics at both national and regional levels to support fishery management and aquaculture development programmes. (paragraph 32 of the Report)
(7) APFIC should assist the Member States in the development and standardization of their fishery statistical systems and data management and promote data and information exchanges in the region. (paragraph 32 of the Report).
(8) APFIC should assist its Member States in harmonizing their fishery policies and programmes to meet the new challenges brought by recent international instruments and initiatives. (paragraph 33 of the Report).
(9) Activities related to the development and management of inland fisheries, aquaculture and post-harvest technology be referred to other competent regional fishery bodies such as NACA, SEAFDEC and INFOFISH. (paragraph 34 of the Report).
(10) The Committee fully supported the proposal that APFIC should function as the Regional Consultative Forum at which the Member States, regional fishery bodies and donor agencies could exchange views on emerging issues in the region and actions to be undertaken, bilaterally or collectively. (paragraph 35 of the Report).
(11) The Committee stressed the need for increased support by Member States to the Commission and requested this matter be considered at the next Commission Session. It also agreed that Member States should provide support such as travel expenses for their representatives to participate in the APFIC sessions and in hosting the biannual sessions of APFIC. (paragraphs 37 and 38 of the Report).
(12) Bearing in mind that APFIC is the only FAO regional fishery body in the Asia-Pacific region, the Committee requested that FAO should consider the possibility of providing necessary funding to support the Commission. (paragraph 39 of the Report).
(13) The Committee advised that the APFIC Secretariat and the Member States should be more proactive in developing pilot projects of common interest for the Member States to participate and to provide some financial support as well as by donors. (paragraph 40 of the Report).
(14) The Executive Committee endorsed the provisional agenda of the Twenty-seventh Session of APFIC. (paragraph 42 of the Report).
(15) The Committee agreed that the Sixty-ninth Session of the Executive Committee be convened at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in June 2002.