Side event of the Review Conference of the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement

Side event of the Review Conference of the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement

“Regional fishery bodies and management organizations:

challenges and opportunities with a focus on combating IUU fishing”

Remarks by the Director of the FAO Liaison Office, Ms. Carla Mucavi

Conference Room 6 or 7, UN Headquarters

23 May 2016

 

 

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

Last year we celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement. The agreement is a fundamental tool for the conservation and sustainable use of fish stocks. It is also an important instrument to address illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

 

Let me take the opportunity to share with you that the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing will enter into force next month, significantly contributing to combat IUU. Thirty Members have formally deposited their instruments of adherence. We invite others to join as well. FAO is ready to support this process.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

The implementation of the Fish Stocks Agreement requires a collaborative and coordinated effort. Regional fishery management organizations and bodies have a central role in translating global instruments and normative processes into actions at the country and regional level.

 

The importance of regional fishery organizations can also be seen in their rapid and continuing expansion. The most recent addition was the establishment, in 2015, of the North Pacific Fisheries Commission.

 

For many years, FAO has promoted and supported regional fishery management organizations and bodies.

 

Recently, FAO provided an overview of independent performance reviews of Regional Fishery Bodies and Management Organizations. The overview also informs the steps that have been undertaken to implement the recommendations.

 

FAO is also committed to bolster regional cooperation through the Regional Fishery Body Secretariats’ Network. This is a forum for consultation and dialogue, addressing issues of common concern and fostering cooperation and information exchange.

 

FAO will continue to support governments and the Regional Fishery Bodies and Management Organization in their functioning, in the implementation of global instruments and normative processes, and in the sustainable management of fisheries resources.

 

This cooperative effort gains even more importance in the context of the 2030 Agenda and in the fulfilment of Sustainable Development Goal 14 on Oceans.

 

To end, I would like to thank you all for your interest to actively work with FAO to shape and establish an effective global and regional fisheries governance framework, that pursues a sustainable fisheries sector for the wealth of the members of the regional bodies and the marine ecosystem they share.