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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION ACTIVITIES

Following the request of the first substantive session the FAO produced two information papers: A/CONF.164/INF/8, "The Precautionary Approach with Reference to Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks", and A/CONF.164/INF/9, "Reference Points for Fisheries Management: Their Potential Application to Straddling and Highly Migratory Resources".

The Precautionary Approach information paper outlines the need for recognition of a precautionary approach to fisheries management as well as an interpretation of a possible framework to establish a precautionary principle. The Reference Points for Fisheries Management information paper acknowledges that, with an imperfect knowledge of fish population and dynamics and an incomplete understanding of socio-economic dynamics, the future use of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) as a management target is neither efficient nor safe.