HONIARA, SOLOMON ISLANDS, 25 MARCH-1 APRIL 2011: The 17 members of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) met last week to discuss how to address illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing at the 14th Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) Working Group.
Observers to the meeting included the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC); Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) Forum Regional Security Committee (FRSC); U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and Enforcement and Litigation, Australian Royal Navy Maritime Surveillance Officers (MSA), United Nations Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO); Pacific Islands Tuna Industry Association (PITIA) and PEW Charitable Trust Environment Group.
Outcomes are generally in the form of recommendations, which will now be taken for endorsement by relevant government and political leaders in FFA member countries.
The Drafting Group established under the Niue Treaty also met last week to advance work on the multilateral subsidiary agreement for better monitoring, control and surveillance, as mandated by the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders and funded by Australia. This work is significant as it will facilitate further cooperation between FFA Members in combating IUU fishing.
FFA Director of Fisheries Operations Mark Young said: “Our meeting this year is significant as it represents our first meeting since the formal endorsement by the Ministers in May 2010 of the Regional Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Strategy."
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