Given the capacity of the meeting venue, it was agreed that a plenary-type approach was preferred for presentation of the Theme Sessions. However, given the interest in presenting papers to the Conference it was soon realized that the activities of the main Conference would have to be supplemented and it was agreed to do this through a poster session. The posters were accommodated in an adjacent meeting room. The Steering Committee also recognized that the convergence of a large number of international experts provided an ideal opportunity for them to meet in specialist groups to discuss and explore technical issues in depth. The number and nature of these meetings, which were held independently to DEEP SEA 2003, was governed by the availability of funding and the specific interest of participants. The outcomes of the four workshops noted above are given in Section 2.4.
The Agenda for DEEP SEA 2003 is given in Appendix I. The main programme elements were as follows.
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Theme 1: |
Environment, Ecosystem Biology, Habitat and Diversity and Oceanography |
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Chair - Dr Andy Rosenberg - University of New Hampshire, USA |
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Keynote - Dr John Gordon - Environmental and biological aspects of deep-water demersal fishes. |
Presentations in this section reviewed the nature and characteristics of the continental slope and deep-sea environment, their fauna and ecosystems.
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Theme 2: |
Population Biology and Resource Assessment |
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Chair - Dr John McKoy - National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand |
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Keynote - Dr Andre Punt - The challenges of, and future prospects for, assessing deep-water marine: experiences from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the US. |
This section reviewed the challenges to assessment of the deepwater fishery resources posed by the logistical requirements of working in deepwaters and the special characteristics of many of the fishes living in deepwater habitats.
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Theme 3: |
Harvesting and Conservation Strategies for Resource Management |
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Chair - Dr Keith Sainsbury - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia |
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Keynote - Dr Andy Rosenberg - Between the devil and the deep blue sea - the challenges of managing deep sea living marine resources. |
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Theme 4: |
Technology Requirements |
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Chair - Mr Ian Knuckey - Fishwell Consulting Ltd, Australia |
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Keynote - Dr Amos Barkai - Use and abuse of data in fishery management. |
This section considered the technological developments that have driven the development of deepwater demersal fisheries and requirements posed by fishing in such extreme depths. Included in these treatments were presentations addressing the revolutionary advances in seafloor mapping and other aides to aimed trawling, without which the development of deepwater fishing, would not have occurred in the manner it has.
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Theme 5: |
Monitoring, Compliance and Control |
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Chair - Mr Dave Wood - New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries |
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Keynote - Mr Stephen Stuart - Creating and implementing an effective deterrent. |
Presentations in this section examined how advances in technology were enabling offshore surveillance and control of fishing vessel activity, with a particular emphasis on providing data of sufficient quality that it can support successful legal charges. Related developments are enabling vessel activities to be monitored and are facilitating the discharge of the responsibilities of flag and port States in relation to their international obligations.
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Theme 6: |
Review of Existing Policies and Instruments |
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Chair - Dr Marcus Haward - University of Tasmania, Australia |
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Keynote - Dr Douglas Johnston - Towards a high seas management regime: Vision and reality. |
This section reflected on the developments in legal and institutional instruments governing the deepwater and high-sea fisheries, especially the obligations of States in the absence of appropriate fisheries management bodies. Particular notice was given to evaluation of the results of agreements such as the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement and the development of ‘soft law’ initiatives including the FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the related International Plans of Action.
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Theme 7: |
Governance and Management |
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Chair - Mr Grant Bryden - New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade |
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Keynote - Dr Moritaka Hayashi - Governing Deep-Sea Fisheries: Future Options and Challenges. |
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Panel Session: |
The Way Ahead and Summing Up |
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Chair - Dr Ross Shotton - Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. |
The members of this panel were:
Administrator’s perspectives
Dr M. Sissenwine, NOAA, USA. The Way Ahead: Important Science and Governance Issues.
Dr Carlos Verona, DALTEC, Argentina. The Way Ahead - The Administrator’s Perspective
Dr Geoff Richardson, AFMA, Australia. Issues for Governments
Dr Denzil Miller, CCAMLR, Australia. The View from a Regional Fishery Body.
Global and international perspectives
Mr Michael Lodge, ISA, Jamaica. Objectives, Principles and Strategy
Ms Kristina Gjerde, IUCN, Switzerland. The Way Forward for Deep Sea Fisheries: A Global Perspective
Mr Mori Hayashi, Waseda University, Japan. International Legal Considerations and Practicalities
Industry perspectives
Mr Martin Exel, Austral Fisheries Pty. Ltd, - Australia
Mr Dave Sharp, New Zealand Seafood Industry Council, New Zealand - New Zealand.
Synthesis - The future
Dr John Annala, Ministry of Fisheries, New Zealand and Conference Convener.
A total of 62 posters were presented. By a popular vote, the presentation by Drs Wohler, Martinez and Verazay of the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero, Mar del Plata, Argentina titled "A new approach to control and management of the Argentine fishery for Patagonian toothfish" was awarded the prize for the best poster[4].
The technical Workshops were convened Thursday-Saturday, 27-29 November 2003, Three Workshops were convened at Otago University, Dunedin and the forth, on deepwater chondrichthyans, at the Marine Biology Station at nearby Portobello, Port Charmers. These workshops addressed the following topics:
i. Assessment and Management of Deepwater Fisheries (Appendix III)
ii. Conservation and Management of Deepwater Chondrichthyan Fishes (Appendix IV)
iii. Management of Small-Scale Deepwater Fisheries (Appendix V) and
iv. Marine Bioprospecting (Appendix VI).
The first and third of these workshops were undertaken by the Fisheries Department of the FAO; the second Workshop was jointly undertaken by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, U.K., the IUCN and the FAO. The Workshop on Bioprospecting was held under the aegis of the Institute of Antarctic & Southern Ocean Studies, the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystem Cooperative Research Centre and the Centre for Law & Genetics, of the University of Tasmania. The outcomes of these workshops were reported to the DEEP SEA 2003 conference in Queenstown as part of the summary proceedings.
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[4] FAO 2005. Proceedings of
DEEP SEA 2003. FAO Fisheries Conf. Proc. 3. In print. |
