This side event focuses on tangible recommendations on options for capacity building in BBNJ for discussion by decision makers at the Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (General Assembly resolution 72/249).

The workshop focussed on presenting to the fleet (via industry representatives) and discussing the outcomes of the line weighting demonstrations, as well as getting some feedback from observers who have been working on the vessels since line weighting has been implemented across the fleet.

Information in this poster is based on the FAO Standard Specifications for theMarking and Identification of Fishing Vessels

The eighth session of the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) was held in Merida, Mexico, on 3–4 November 2017. The Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) hosted the session at the venue of its seventieth annual conference. The SAG discussed the outcomes of the work carried out by various joint working groups in 2016–2017 and their Recommendations to WECAFC 17. The SAG reviewed the status of the main fish stocks in Area 31 and discussed the impact of the increase in Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) fisheries on the current stock assessment methods used. The SAG further got updated on the functioning of the Interim Coordination Mechanism for Sustainable Fisheries, the WECAFC-FIRMS partnership and the activities of partner agencies in the region. A list of specific SAG Recommendations for the attention of WECAFC 17 is included in the preface of the report. The working documents used for the eight session of the SAG, including amongst others, a Review of the State of Fisheries in the WECAFC region, and a Desk Review of FADs fisheries development in the WECAFC region and the impact on stock assessments, are available here.

The IATTC received funds from the FAO-GEF Common Oceans program for a project aimed at improving data collection for shark fisheries in the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO). The goals of the project include identifying and describing available fishery data sources for shark species in the EPO, as well as incorporating new and existing data on shark fisheries into a database suitable for stock assessments. In addition, as part of the capacity-building aspect of project, aimed at developing IATTC member countries, two workshops were planned, one on Shark Data Collection and the other on Data-Limited Assessment Methods for Shark Species.