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APFIC regional consultative workshop. Managing fishing capacity and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in Asia

Year of publication 2007

Pages 51

Author Fisheries Group

Product type Book (stand-alone)

Series title RAP Publication

Series number 1020-6221|1014-2789|18194591|0428-9560

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) An account of the workshop held from 13 to 15 June 2007 in Phuket, Thailand. Experts from 13 commission member countries were present: Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. The overall aim of the workshop was to raise awareness of and promote actions towards ensuring that fishing efforts are commensurate with the productive capacity of the fishery resource and their sustainable utilization ( FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries). At the global level, the call for States to reduce fishing capacity and combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is loud and clear. With a few exceptions, however, the responses at the national level have been much weaker, especially in Asian countries. Countries face the dilemma of either limiting access to fisheries resources, which runs the risk of cutting off an important source of livelihoods for poor communities, or keeping the commons open, in which case the resources will sooner or later be fished down (also impacting very negatively on poor communities in the longer-term). Most fisheries in the region, therefore, are still open access in nature, implying that capacity is not being managed and that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is still rampant. This report contains the workshop recommendations and conclusions as well as a "call for action" to pave the way forward on regional action and coordination.

Language English

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