Report of the Ninth Meeting of the RECOFI Working Group on Fisheries Management, Kuwait City, State of Kuwait, 24-26 November 2015

Abstract

This document contains the report of the ninth meeting of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) Working Group on Fisheries Management (WGFM) which was held in Kuwait City, State of Kuwait, from 24 to 26 November 2015. The WGFM took note of the outcomes of the eighth session of RECOFI (Muscat, Oman, 12 to 14 May 2015), including that the Commission noted that none of the priority activities of the WGFM had taken place, and that the Commission had reduced the activities of the current int ersessional period to only one activity: the joint appraisal of the Kingfish stock in the RECOFI area. Delegates provided updates on ongoing and current work on RECOFI priority species, recognizing the importance in ensuring that the knowledge base of RECOFI is preserved and to reduce fragmented studies being conducted by individual RECOFI member countries. It was proposed that two species be added to the list of RECOFI priority species. It was regarded as important to hold the Kingfish stock as sessment workshop in the first half of 2016. The WGFM agreed that the continuation of this socio-economic work is appreciated as a key activity in the intersessional period, noting the important role of the Task Group. It was re-highlighted that the data reported under Recommendation RECOFI/6/2011/1 would provide an adequate basis for monitoring the status of fishing operations and resources and taking management decisions. The meeting reviewed the standard classifications and terminologies and agreed on a set of RECOFI standards to cover the minimum data reporting component. The WGFM agreed to move toward one integrated formal RECOFI website for the integration of the current RECOFI regional data set and that Kuwait and FAO would further clarify and detail the tasks, activities and budget required in the transitional period and integrate them into a FAO/Kuwait cooperation agreement. It was agreed that there could be areas for cooperation between RECOFI and ROPME to the benefit of both regional organization and their members. The State of Qatar confirmed that it would host the tenth meeting of the Working Group on Fisheries Management in 2016.