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UN Fish Stocks Agreement Review Conference
UN Headquarters, New York | 22-26 May 2006
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Review Conference Addresses Cooperation and Non-Members
On Tuesday, 23 May 2006, the Review Conference of the UN Fish Stocks
Agreement (UNFSA or the Agreement) reviewed and assessed implementation
of the Agreement's provisions on mechanisms for international
cooperation and non-members. The drafting committee met twice, in the
afternoon and in the evening, to complete discussions on conservation
and management.
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Tuesday, 23 May
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Plenary
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Carmen Paz Martí, Spain, suggested referring to the example of
international cooperation in
other marine biodiversity conservation activities, and highlighted the
value of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.
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Lori Ridgeway, Canada, called for concerted international action to
address fishing vessels operating under flags of convenience, and urged
the Conference to endorse strong sanctions to address non-compliant
behavior.
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Nigel Fyfe, New Zealand, suggested that performance indicators for RFMOs
be developed, self-assessments and independent reviews be undertaken,
and results and remedies be reported to a future review conference.
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Jens Peter Prothmann, Namibia, urged all relevant States' full participation
in RFMO activities.
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Narmoko Prasmadji, Indonesia, noted that developing countries' active
participation in RFMOs would contribute to strengthening the realization
of RFMO commitments.
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William Gibbons-Fly, US, underscored the need for an independent and
external review of RFMO performance based on a uniform set of criteria,
and called upon the Conference to provide specific guidance in this
regard.
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Tomas Heidar, Iceland, noted the problem of fishing States' failure to agree
on conservation and management measures such as total allowable catch, and
said that members of each RFMO should decide on measures for RFMO
performance reviews.
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Sainivalati Navoti, Fiji, called for uniform standards of data
collection, reporting and exchange, and minimum standards for responsible
fishing, urging cooperating non-members of RFMOs to become members.
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Colombia called for mechanisms to allocate participation rights fairly
and sustainably, and emphasized that unfair allocation of participation
rights is a disincentive to non-members joining UNFSA and a major
barrier to achieving universal acceptance of the Agreement.
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Mario Aguilar, Mexico, called upon RFMOs to ensure the protection of
non-target species and emphasized the need to move from single-species to
ecosystem-based management.
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Alastair Graham, WWF, called for a single delivery mechanism for all
international obligations related to marine living resources.
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Duncan Currie, Greenpeace, called for a new UNCLOS implementation agreement
on the precautionary principle, the ecosystem approach and prior environmental
impact assessment, and an agency to coordinate international
action to combat IUU fishing.
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Drafting Committee
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During an afternoon session, the drafting committee discussed proposed
means of strengthening the implementation of the Agreement's
provisions on the conservation and management of fish stocks.
Delegates further discussed the need to address discrete high seas
stocks, and measures relating to the management of marine protected
areas. Informal drafting continued in the afternoon, and revised
draft text was circulated in the drafting committee in the evening.
Discussions continued into the night, with the committee scheduled to commence
consideration of text on international cooperation and non-members on
Wednesday morning.
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Around the Conference
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