Regional Plan of Action (RPOA) to
Promote Responsible Fishing Practices including Combating IUU
Fishing in the Region2
Contents
Current resource and management situation in the region
20
Implementation of international and regional instruments
21
Role of regional and multilateral organizations
21
Coastal State responsibilities
22
Flag State responsibilities
22
Port State Measures
23
Regional market measures
23
Regional capacity building
23
Strengthening monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) systems
23
Transhipment at sea
24
Implementation
24
__________ 2 Republic of Indonesia, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia,
Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, The
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam.
Regional Plan of Action (RPOA) to Promote Responsible Fishing
Practices including Combating IUU Fishing in the Region
Introduction
Fishing activity makes an important contribution to the food security and economic
well-being of the region. However, increases in overexploitation and illegal fishing
practices, have
hastened the depletion of many fish stocks. For this reason, fishery resources must be
managed sustainably, and responsible fishing practices need to be promoted.
Regional cooperation is critical for the long-term sustainable protection of the
living
marine resource and the marine environment. Whilst some of the root causes of the depletion
of fisheries resources can be addressed at the national level, many can only be
successfully addressed through regional action. This is particularly the case in the areas
with
interdependent marine ecosystems, adjoining maritime boundaries and shared fish stocks.
Objective and framework
The objective of this RPOA is to enhance and strengthen the overall level of
fisheries management in the region, in order to sustain fisheries resources and the marine
environment, and to optimise the benefit of adopting responsible fishing practices. The
actions
cover conservation of fisheries resources and their environment, managing fishing capacity,
and combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the areas of the South
China Sea, Sulu-Sulawesi Seas (Celebes Sea) and the Arafura-Timor Seas.
4. This RPOA is a voluntary instrument and takes its core principles from already
established international fisheries instruments for promoting responsible fishing practices, including
the 1982 'United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea' (UNCLOS), in particular Articles
61 through 64, 116-119 and 123, the `United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement' (UNFSA), the
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) `Compliance Agreement' and the FAO `Code of Conduct
for Responsible Fisheries'. The RPOA is consistent with existing treaties, agreements
and arrangements and all other plans and programmes relevant to the sustainable management
of the region's living marine resources.
This RPOA also draws upon the FAO International Plan of Actions, (IPOA) for the
Conservation and Management of Sharks', the `IPOA for the Management of Fishing Capacity',
and
the `IPOA to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing', the
`IPOA for Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries ', which contain
internationally agreed measures, applicable to national and regional plans to promote
responsible
fishing practices and, more recently, the FAO `Model Scheme on Port State Measures to Combat
IUU Fishing'.
Action Plan
Current resource and management situation in the region
The RPOA notes and affirms that the shared fish stocks are a very important source of
food
for people in the region, utilized by countries in the region and also traded both in and
outside
the region. Both overfishing and illegal fishing are seriously depleting the region's fish
stocks.
In this regard, the promotion of responsible fishing practices, and prevention, deterrence
and
elimination of illegal fishing are essential to ensure food security and
poverty alleviation in
the region and countries in the region should:
work together on compiling an overview of artisanal and industrial fishing, the
current status of fish stocks, trade flows and markets.
Implementation of international and regional instruments
International instruments contain structures and measures upon which to build long
term sustainable fisheries. The key global instruments that countries should consider
when implementing responsible fishing practices include the 1982 `United Nations Convention
on
the Law of the Sea' (UNCLOS), the `United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement' (UNFSA), the FAO
`Compliance Agreement', the FAO `Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries', the
`International Plan of Action (IPOA) to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and
Unregulated (IUU) Fishing', the `IPOA for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline
Fisheries', the
`IPOA for the Conservation and Management of Sharks' and the `IPOA for the Management
of Fishing Capacity'. Relevant regional instruments include the Western and Central
Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the Agreement Establishing the Indian Ocean
Tuna Commission (IOTC). To support these measures, Countries in the region are encouraged
to:
work toward ratification, accession, and/or acceptance and full implementation, of
UNCLOS and UNFSA;
work towards ratification and/or acceptance of regional fisheries management
instruments, where appropriate; and
work toward acceptance and full implementation of relevant regional and
multilateral arrangements, where appropriate.
Role of regional and multilateral organizations
Implementing responsible fishing practices and combating IUU fishing are issues for
the
whole region. Articles 63, 64 and 116-119 of the UNCLOS requires countries to cooperate in
the conservation and management of shared stocks and highly migratory species. The
management expertise and technical capacity built up over the years by regional
organizations should
be harnessed to assist with the problems of the region.
Countries should work closely and collaboratively with regional organizations to
develop conservation and management measures for fish stocks to promote optimum utilization.
Countries acknowledge the important roles of regional organizations in strengthening
fisheries management and conservation in the region including the FAO/APFIC, WCPFC, IOTC,
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), ASEAN, INFOFISH, the Southeast Asian
Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), and WorldFish Center. The measures promoted by
these organizations which may be applicable to this RPOA should be supported by all
participating countries where relevant.
Countries should encourage relevant regional organizations to provide assistance
in technical support and development of guidelines for conservation and
fisheries management, capacity building, sharing data and information on fisheries and
trade,
and strengthening networking for the purpose of enhancing participation and
ensuring implementation of conservation and management measures in the region.
Coastal State responsibilities
The collection, management and availability of accurate and timely information are
essential
in managing fishery resources and combating illegal fishing. Accurate data on the number
of fishing vessels and fishing activity is required to provide for responsible fishing,
hence
the importance of maintaining comprehensive and up-todate vessel registers and catch and
effort information by all States, both coastal and flag. To help address this concern,
countries in
the region should:
work together to improve their data collection systems and to share information
about vessels, fishing effort, catch levels, fish landings and sales of fish and fish
products,
as appropriate, and;
work to develop a regional approach to identify, compile and exchange information
on any vessel used or intended for use for the purpose of fishing including support
ships, carrier vessels and any other vessels directly involved in such fishing operations in
the region on straddling and migratory stocks and across national jurisdictions.
Control of fishing capacity and fishing effort are fundamental elements of fisheries
management.
When the capacity of fishing fleets to harvest a resource exceeds the sustainable level,
it results in unsustainable fishing activity and has the potential to `spill-over' into
illegal
fishing activity. This RPOA acknowledges that countries should manage the fishing capacity
of
their fleets by:
assessing the status of their fishery resources and fishing fleet capacity;
introducing management measures to help prevent fishing capacity from exceeding
levels that result in harvest rates that impede the ability of fish stocks to reproduce
sustainably over the longer term;
undertaking planning to reduce over-capacity without shifting that capacity to other
fisheries whose resources may be already fished at the maximum sustainable rate or above
that rate, taking into consideration potential socio-economic impacts;
cooperating to assess, conserve and manage fishery resources where they
straddle national boundaries or occur both within EEZs and in an area beyond and adjacent
to the EEZ;
undertaking to develop and implement national plans of action to accelerate their
efforts to reduce over capacity and eliminate illegal fishing activity where these issues
are known to occur;
working on the collection, management and sharing of information on
fisheries management, and the management of fishing capacity; and
respecting traditional, artisanal and small-scale fisheries and providing assistance
with the management of these fisheries resources.
Flag State responsibilities
Coastal States through their flag State responsibilities in the region are at the
forefront
in implementing sustainable fishing practices and combating illegal fishing. To address this need:
all coastal States, relevant flag States and fishing entities operating in the
region
should actively cooperate in ensuring that fishing vessels entitled to fly their flags do
not
undermine the effectiveness of conservation and management measures, including engagement
in or supporting illegal fishing.
Port State Measures
Port States play a key role in combating illegal and unreported fishing in the region,
given
the need to land catch and support fishing activities. In this regard, regional countries
and
fishing entities need to develop measures to regulate fishing vessels accessing their ports
for transhipping and/or landing catch and collect and exchange relevant data. To address
this need, countries should consider:
adopting Port State Measures, where appropriate, based on the FAO `Model Scheme
on Port State Measures to Combat IUU
Fishing3.
Regional market measures
In order to minimize unreported and illegal catches, countries should collaborate to
implement regional market measures to identify and to track fish catches at all points in
the
marketing chain in a consistent way with existing international trade laws:
As a priority, countries in the region should standardize catch and landing
documentation throughout the region and implement catch documentation or trade certification
schemes for high value product.
In addition, countries should work with organizations such as INFOFISH to
produce regular and timely market reports allowing trade flows to be analyzed.
Countries should check trade discrepancies regarding export of fish and fish product
and take appropriate action and, as a minimum, report these discrepancies to the flag State.
Regional capacity building
Capacity building in all aspects of fisheries management must be encouraged.
Countries
are aware that a fully effective system requires technically competent implementation and
operation.
Technical and administrative staff require access to both formal and on-the-job training to
build the requisite experience and competence in matters such as fisheries resource
assessments, introduction of monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) measures and
development of
fish product tracking systems. To build these capacities, countries should:
continue developing the appropriate core competencies for fisheries
research, management and compliance, including MCS systems;
either individually or jointly, seek technical and financial assistance from
relevant international development agencies and donors as well as other countries in the
region; and
ensure that flag States from outside the region that operate in the region be urged
to cooperate with, and assist technically and financially, those countries in the region
in whose waters they conduct fishing operations.
Strengthening monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) systems
An MCS system, at both a national and regional level, supports and underpins a
robust fisheries management regime. A strong enforcement network can share data and
information on enforcement strategies and provide advice and capacity building. To better
coordinate