Among the resolutions taken was the creation of a global information exchange system to support implementation of the Agreement on Port State Measures that would include a publicly available information section, facilitating near-real time exchange.
This document contains the report of the first meeting of the Parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing held in Oslo, Norway, from 29 to 31 May 2017. The Parties agreed that FAO assumes the role of Secretariat for the meeting. The need for concerted action by port States, flag States and other States in the implementation of the Agreement, together with the important role of FAO, regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and other international organizations and bodies, was recognized. The Parties noted the value of drawing lessons from existing relevant initiatives of RFMOs and other international organizations. The Parties agreed that a staged approach should be adopted with regards to data exchange and called for the establishment of an open-ended technical working group to provide guidance on the development of data exchange mechanisms. FAO was tasked with developing templates for reporting of information on national contact points, designated ports and other relevant information for the implementation of the Agreement, and to publish the information through a dedicated section within the FAO website. The Parties established the Working Group under Part 6 of the Agreement and its terms of reference were adopted. The Parties called upon the Secretariat to develop a specific web-based questionnaire for the purpose of monitoring implementation of the Agreement, as well as recording challenges faced, which is to be completed every two years initially. The Secretariat was also requested to prepare draft Rules of Procedure for meetings of the Parties and any subsidiary working groups based on the General Rules of the FAO, and relevant rules of the Committee on Fisheries, for consideration at the next meeting of the Parties. The Parties agreed to hold meetings every two years along with supplementary technical meetings as required.
The third meeting of the PSMA Open-ended Technical Working Group on Information Exchange (TWG-IE) was held in Rome, Italy, from 13 to 14 December 2022. The TWG-IE commended the advances made in the development of the Global Information Exchange System (GIES), provided recommendations for the refinement of the system and recommended that GIES should be operationalized in 2023 following the approval of Parties at their fourth Meeting.
The second meeting of the PSMA Open-ended Technical Working Group on Information Exchange (TWG-IE) was held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 15 to 17 May 2019. The TWG-IE commended the advances made in the sharing of information on designated ports and national contact points and recommended the development of a working prototype of the PSMA global information exchange system (GIES) to support the implementation of the PSMA.
This document contains the report of the second meeting of the Part 6 Working Group established by the Parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, held in Rome, Italy, from 5 to 6 July 2018. The Part 6 Working Group reviewed outcomes of its first meeting, noting with respect to the funding mechanisms to be put in place to assist developing States with the implementation of the PSMA that further clarity is required in terms of the criteria and priorities that will be used to review applications for assistance. The Part 6 Working Group discussed at length the requirements of developing States for the implementation of the PSMA, noting legal, operational, and technical challenges and identifying where existing tools are already available to address these challenges. The Working Group received a detailed update of FAO’s Global Capacity Development Programme in support of the PSMA, as well as heard from other international organizations, non-governmental organizations, States and other entities on their respective capacity development initiatives in support of the PSMA. Finally, the Part 6 Working Group discussed the necessary functionalities of the capacity development portal that is to be developed and hosted by FAO under the PSMA global programme.
This document contains the report of the fourth meeting of the Global Record Informal Open-Ended Technical and Advisory Working Group (GRWG). At this meeting, experts from Member of and observers to the FAO Committee on Fisheries provided their view on the next steps towards the development of the Global Record as a tool to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
The Parties reviewed the status of the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (“the Agreement” or PSMA) and recalled the decisions of the Third Meeting of the Parties. Progress and challenges in the implementation of the Agreement by Parties were discussed and the important role of regional fisheries bodies (RFBs), in particular regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), in supporting the implementation of the Agreement was highlighted. The Parties agreed on the operationalization of the Global Information Exchange System by the end of 2023 and adopted the Terms of Reference for the Technical Working Group on Information Exchange. The Parties emphasized that assistance to developing States Parties is critical for the effective implementation of the Agreement, and reiterated the need to make the multilateral-partner PSMA Part 6 Trust Fund administered by FAO operational. The Parties adopted A Strategy to Improve the Effectiveness of the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (the “Bali Strategy”). The Parties also agreed that the Terms of Reference of the PSMA Strategy ad hoc Working Group be modified to include the task of monitoring the effective implementation of the Agreement. The amended questionnaire for the Parties for the review and assessment of the effectiveness of the PSMA, together with the new questionnaire for RFBs and other international organizations, were adopted. The programme of work was discussed and the Parties agreed on a schedule of PSMA meetings.
The Parties discussed the results of the questionnaire for the review and assessment of the effectiveness of the PSMA, agreeing that the questionnaire was a useful tool, whilst noting the need for further improvements. The Parties tasked the FAO to review the questionnaire, and agreed that the questionnaire would be completed every four years. Parties noted that whilst progress has been made in effectively using the PSMA to combat IUU fishing, a number of challenges remain. Parties welcomed the useful information provided by Regional Fishery Bodies (RFBs) related to progress made in the implementation of the PSMA, and agreed that a standardized questionnaire for RFBs is needed. Parties tasked FAO to develop a first draft of this questionnaire. The Parties welcomed the prototype of the global information exchange system (GIES) and agreed that it should enter a pilot phase. They also reiterated the importance of the availability of information related to the national contact points for the PSMA. The Parties expressed the importance of receiving support on the implementation of effective monitoring, control and surveillance, enforcement and the implementation of GIES. The Secretariat announced the launch of the Global Capacity Development Portal. The Parties requested that discussions around developing a strategy to improve the effectiveness of the PSMA be deferred to an ad hoc working group, and approved the terms of reference of the PSMA Strategy Ad Hoc Working Group.
The sixth Meeting of the Global Record Informal Open-Ended Technical and Advisory Working Group (GRWG) was held in Rome on 12 December 2022. The meeting was attended by experts from FAO Members, intergovernmental organisations and international non-governmental organisations. Issues discussed included confidentiality and data security matters, new features of the information system, role of regional fisheries bodies in data exchange, role of the Global Record in support of the implementation of international instruments and assistance to developing States.
The fourth meeting of the Regional Working Group on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, was held virtually from 8 to 9 September 2020. The Regional Working Group on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (RWG-IUU) Fishing is a joint working group of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC), the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), and Organization for Fisheries and Aquaculture of Central America (OSPESCA). At the meeting, the attendants provided updates on the implementation of the RWG-IUU work plan for 2019–2020 and their efforts in implementing the relevant recommendations that were endorsed at the 17th Session of WECAFC in July 2019. Participants were also informed of the developments at the global and regional levels in the implementation of the Port States Measures Agreement (PSMA) and complementing instruments. La cuarta reunión (virtual) del Grupo de trabajo regional sobre la pesca ilegal, no declarada y no reglamentada (pesca INDNR), tuvo lugar del 8 al 9 de septiembre de 2020. El Grupo de trabajo regional sobre la pesca ilegal, no declarada y no reglamentada (GTR-INDNR) es un grupo conjunto de la Comisión de Pesca para el Atlántico Centro-Occidental (COPACO), el Mecanismo Regional de Pesca del Caribe (CRFM) y la Organización del Sector Pesquero y Acuícola del Istmo Centroamericano (OSPESCA). En la reunión, los asistentes proporcionaron información actualizada sobre la aplicación del plan de trabajo del GTR-INDNR para 2019-2020 y sus esfuerzos en implementar las recomendaciones pertinentes que fueron aprobadas en la decimoséptima sesión de la COPACO en julio de 2019.
