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    Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and Advisory Bodies: Activities and Developments, 2000–2017
    Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and Advisory Bodies: Activities and Developments, 2000–2017
    Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and Advisory Bodies: Activities and Developments, 2000–2017
    Ebook204 pages1 hour

    Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and Advisory Bodies: Activities and Developments, 2000–2017

    By Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

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    There are some 50 RFBs worldwide. Most provide only advice to their members, and are hence referred to in this work as regional fisheries advisory bodies (RFABs). Regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) have mandates to adopt legally binding conservation and management measures based on the best scientific evidence.

    Global instruments and normative processes have to be implemented and translated into actions at the country and regional levels, as appropriate. In this regard, regionalization of fisheries and aquaculture governance can provide opportunities not only to address common concerns, create synergies and mainstream the global objectives of relevant UN bodies, but also to broaden outreach on the global fisheries agenda to regional partners that may not be directly concerned with fisheries, as well as to the general public. The present study provides an overview of the activities and developments of RFMOs and RFABs from 2000 to 2017. It is based on a compilation of data and information for 46 RFMOs and RFABs.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
    Release dateApr 3, 2020
    ISBN9789251322680
    Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and Advisory Bodies: Activities and Developments, 2000–2017
    Author

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

    An intergovernmental organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has 194 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union. Its employees come from various cultural backgrounds and are experts in the multiple fields of activity FAO engages in. FAO’s staff capacity allows it to support improved governance inter alia, generate, develop and adapt existing tools and guidelines and provide targeted governance support as a resource to country and regional level FAO offices. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, FAO is present in over 130 countries.Founded in 1945, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO provides a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and debate policy. The Organization publishes authoritative publications on agriculture, fisheries, forestry and nutrition.

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      Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and Advisory Bodies - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

      Introduction

      The international community has increasingly recognized that strengthening governance of shared fisheries is best achieved by enhancing the role of regional fishery bodies (RFBs). There are some 50 RFBs worldwide. Most provide only advice to their members, and are hence referred to in this work as regional fisheries advisory bodies (RFABs). Regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) have mandates to adopt legally binding conservation and management measures based on the best scientific evidence.

      The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasizes the importance of regional and subregional dimensions, regional economic integration and interconnectivity in sustainable development. The regional level is the most appropriate level for establishing a collaborative framework to preserve and protect whole ecosystems efficiently while also providing opportunities for participating States to benefit sustainably from the services they render.

      Global instruments and normative processes have to be implemented and translated into actions at the country and regional levels, as appropriate. In this regard, regionalization of fisheries and aquaculture governance can provide opportunities not only to address common concerns, create synergies and mainstream the global objectives of relevant United Nations (UN) bodies, but also to broaden outreach on the global fisheries agenda to regional partners that may not be directly concerned with fisheries, as well as to the general public.

      The regional dimension is key to international fisheries management policy, as demonstrated by the rapid expansion of the family of RFBs. RFMOs and RFABs continue to evolve in response to calls for sustainability, improved management and governance, and as a result of lessons learned and stronger commitment by their members.

      For many years, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has promoted and supported RFMOs and RFABs. It has participated directly in the establishment of many of them, formalizing existing opportunities for sharing experiences within a given region, or implementing the processes needed for sustainable management of shared resources. These RFBs have benefited from FAO’s advice on technical matters as well as its secretariat, legal, financial and process support.

      FAO is actively committed to bolstering regional cooperation through the Regional Fishery Body Secretariats’ Network (RSN), which provides a forum for promoting consultation and regional dialogue, addressing priority issues of common concern and fostering ongoing cooperation and exchange of information.¹

      The present study provides an overview of the activities and developments of RFMOs and RFABs from 2000 to 2017. It is based on a compilation of data and information for 46 RFMOs and RFABs.

      This overview is intended to communicate to a wide audience the role and work of RFMOs and RFABs in the context of regional and global ocean governance in general and fisheries sustainability in particular. This is particularly relevant today, as countries face the challenges posed by the Sustainable Development Goals and engage in discussions on the governance of areas beyond national jurisdictions, for example in relation to biological diversity, prohibition of harmful fisheries subsidies contributing to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, overfishing and overcapacity, and establishment of cross-sectoral cooperation between RFMOs/RFABs and regional seas conventions and programmes.

      INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES

      Two global intergovernmental fora provide guidance on fisheries and fisheries-related issues which underpins the work of RFMOs and RFABs:

      •Since 2003, the United Nations General Assembly has annually adopted a specific resolution on fisheries, the so-called Sustainable Fisheries Resolution, addressing numerous issues, including the implementation of the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA); IUU fishing; monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) and enforcement; fishing overcapacity; large-scale pelagic driftnet fishing; fisheries bycatch and discards; subregional and regional cooperation; responsible fisheries in the marine ecosystem; and capacity building.

      •The FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) examines major international fisheries challenges and issues and negotiates global binding agreements and voluntary instruments concerning fisheries (see Box 1). A key treaty is the 2009 FAO Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (Port State Measures Agreement, PSMA), which entered into force in June 2016.

      The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, adopted by COFI in 1995, provides a framework for national and international efforts to ensure sustainable exploration of aquatic living resources in harmony with the environment. Its overall objective is to promote sustainable development, protection of the aquatic environment and the maintenance of biodiversity while contributing to the safety of fishing operations. It is a voluntary instrument containing principles (set out in Article 6) and standards applicable to the conservation, management and development of all fisheries. Articles of particular relevance to RFMOs and RFABs include Article 7, which comprises provisions on management objectives, management framework and procedures, data gathering and management, application of the precautionary approach and the establishment and implementation of management measures; and Article 8, which deals with fishing operations and contains provisions on the duties of flag States and port States.

      The importance of collecting and sharing complete and accurate data concerning fishing activities in a timely manner is recognized in international instruments such as UNFSA (Article 5 and Annex I) and the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (Article 7.4).

      METHODOLOGY

      This review is based on information gathered through a survey questionnaire distributed to RFMOs and RFABs, as well as information from their websites and relevant publications, including FAO reports and RFB performance reviews. The questionnaire focused only on factual information, enabling secretariats to respond without consulting members of a particular RFB.

      Information was sought on conservation and management activities and approach, organizational governance, international cooperation and performance reviews.

      The key pillars of conservation and management are scientific assessment; establishment of conservation and management measures; and monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS), which is key for ensuring compliance with these measures. Accordingly, the review of conservation and management activities covers:

      •the number of fish stocks assessed;

      •the number of fisheries managed (for RFMOs) or number of fisheries for which advice is provided (for RFABs);

      •fishing activities, as indicated by the number of vessels operating within the agreement area;

      •whether a data collection system is in place, and if so whether data are shared;

      •whether schemes for MCS are in place (for RFMOs) or supported (for RFABs), including mandatory vessel monitoring systems (VMS) and measures targeting IUU fishing such as IUU vessel listing, transshipment regulations and port State obligations.

      The review also highlights whether the constituent instruments of the RFBs refer to application of the precautionary approach and the ecosystem approach, which are regarded as important approaches for sustainable fisheries management. As the principles of the precautionary approach and ecosystem approach were developed globally in the early 1990s and did not appear in a treaty until UNFSA was adopted in 1995, agreements adopted before UNFSA do not contain direct references to these two concepts. However, most treaties that have been amended in the past 20 years have incorporated references to the precautionary approach and ecosystem approach into their respective statutory documents; and the review also considers language that could be interpreted as referring to the ecosystem approach where that term is not directly used.

      Criteria assessed in relation to governance of the organizations included the governance structure, meeting activities, establishment of compliance mechanisms and transparency.

      On several occasions the international community has called for collaboration, coordination and exchange among RFMOs, RFABs and regional seas conventions or programmes. The report therefore assesses whether each organization cooperates with other international bodies of this kind, and whether it has established any formal arrangement (e.g. Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] or similar) for such

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