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Thursday, 25 May
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Plenary
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Serge Beslier, European Commission, said that rather than increasing
financial assistance, the international community should assist
developing countries in formulating policies to make rational use of
such assistance.
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Munesh Munbodh, Mauritius, said small island developing States (SIDS)
should have equitable access to fishing resources while their fisheries
develop, and SIDS' financial constraints should be taken into
account when formulating member States' financial contributions to RFMOs.
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Famoudou Magassouba, Guinea, drew attention to the need for assistance in
production and distribution mechanisms, capacity, human resources and
reliable data, and called for increased contributions to the Assistance
Fund and for concrete proposals for the establishment of new RFMOs.
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Juana Elena Ramos Rodriguez, Cuba, urged adoption of general
recommendations for the implementation of UNFSA provisions on boarding
and inspection, to address non-party concerns.
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Hosung Lee, Republic of Korea, cautioned against the unlawful exercise
of inspection and boarding, called for safeguards for the human rights
of crews during inspections and boarding, and favored alternative
mechanisms to ensure compliance such as observer programmes, vessel
registers, lists of vessels and trade documentation.
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Liu Zheng, China, expressed concern about the possibility of using
force for the enforcement of the Agreement and suggested developing
transparent and reasonable guiding principles on this matter, which
should prevent abuses and include compensation mechanisms.
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Gerhard Hafner, Austria, for the EU, supported a periodical review of
the Agreement based on a five-year cycle.
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Nigel Fyfe, New Zealand, underlined the need for UN bodies to report to
the review conference, and called for a four-year review cycle.
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Kjell Kristian Egge, Norway, disagreed with the idea of a formal future
review conference, stating that formal conferences divert resources away
from actual implementation, preferring that biennial informal States
parties meetings conduct a review every 6-8 years.
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Carlos Duarte, Brazil, called for assistance to developing countries to
access high seas stocks.
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Peter Prows, Palau, called for annual review of RFMO coverage and
effectiveness. He announced Palau's intention to join UNFSA.
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William Gibbons-Fly, US, called for RFMO members to develop mutually
acceptable provisions on boarding and inspection.
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Louis Simard, Canada, called on development assistance agencies to
develop coherent approaches to international fisheries issues, bearing
in mind the specific policy, science, management and enforcement needs
and priorities of developing States.
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Ana Cristina Rodriguez Pineda, Guatemala, called for regional periodic
review conferences.
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Papua New Guinea, on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum, called for
assistance in meeting importing countries' quality controls and
ensuring developing countries' access to markets for fishery products.
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Tomas Heidar, Iceland, proposed to hold consultations every second year,
with every third of such meetings being held in a more formal setting.
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Karen Mosoti, Kenya, stressed the need to consider all forms of
assistance as a package, without attributing preference unless so
requested by beneficiary countries.
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Mario Aguilar, Mexico, called for developing a technical annex to UNFSA
on procedures for inspection and boarding, including a compensation
mechanism for damage and economic losses caused by boarding contrary to
international law, and favored alternative means for monitoring and
surveillance such as independent on-board observers.
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The International Coalition in Support of Fishworkers called for
preferential access to fish stocks for artisanal and small-scale fishers.
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Alistair Graham, WWF, underscored the importance of committing
governments to allocation rules for new entrants to RFMOs.
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Duncan Currie, Greenpeace, called for the establishment of a transparent
database on vessel quota and landing information database and international
cooperation for capacity building, and suggested that participation in
RFMOs not be based on past fishing history.
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