In this report, we explore potential options for storing and sharing pre-existing data collated for the South-East Pacific as part of the GEF ABNJ Deep Seas Project (‘the ABNJ Deep Seas Project’) Component 4 on area-based planning in ABNJ. This Project is jointly implemented by FAO and UN Environment, the South-East Pacific being one of Component 4’s two pilot study areas. However, the management of data is relevant across all the Components of the ABNJ Deep Seas Project.

Report of the Fifth Project Steering Committee: Sustainable Management of Tuna Fisheries and Biodiversity Conservation in the ABNJ, Rome, Italy, 16-18 July 2018.

This study is part of a pilot project coordinated by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), with support provided by the Common Oceans ABNJ Tuna Project, to test the use of biodegradable and non-entangling Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) in collaboration with Ghanaian fleets. The initiative addresses some of the challenges facing the fishing sector by implementing best practice solutions to reduce both ghost-fishing due to entanglement in FAD structure, and the amount of plastic used to construct FAD´s structures, with the aim to contribute to achieving responsible, efficient and sustainable fisheries and biodiversity conservation.

The study describes the governance landscape in ABNJ within the Western Indian Ocean and the South East Pacific with a view to understanding what progress has been made towards a collaborative and integrated cross-sectoral approach to area-based planning in ABNJ, and what potential challenges and opportunities exist when considering such an objective within these regions. The results of this study are designed to contribute to the UN Environment component of the GEF ABNJ Deep Seas Project, 1 which focuses on developing and testing area-based planning methodologies in ABNJ within the Western Indian Ocean and the South East Pacific.

This capacity assessment summarises the existing capacity of the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific (CPPS) Secretariat and member countries of the CPPS to undertake area based planning in ABNJ of the South-East Pacific Ocean pilot area. This includes their collective capacity to work within existing frameworks and with the competent bodies operating in ABNJ. It is based on the capacity assessment session run at the ABNJ GEF workshop in Guayaquil, Ecuador 7-8th November 2016.