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SPRFMO logo. Photo: Kim Westerskov
New Zealand is hosting the 8th, and possibly final, round of negotiations to establish a regional fisheries management organisation to manage the South Pacific’s non-tuna like species.
The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) will fill a current management gap in international fisheries.
The negotiations will be attended by approximately 150 participants representing around 25 countries and 10 international and non governmental organisations from the Pacific, Latin America, Asia, Europe and North America. New Zealander Bill Mansfield is the independent Chair.
The region that will be covered by the establishment of this organisation is vast - it is the largest chunk of the world's oceans with no management regime for important parts of the fisheries resources being extracted from it.
The exact area to be governed by this organisation has yet to be agreed. The draft text of the Convention, including an illustrative map, is available on the website of the South Pacific Fisheries Regional Management Organisation, but roughly covers the following: from Australia in the west to Latin America in the east to the Antarctic in the south and the equator in the north and in some parts beyond.
The negotiations are preceded by the Science Working Group Meeting, taking place 2 - 6 November.
The Science Working Group, chaired by New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries scientist Andrew Penney, will consider a range of issues relating to the non-highly migratory species of the South Pacific.
The Science Working Group discussions are likely to focus on the jack mackerel fishery off the Latin American coast, including the structure of the stock and participants’ fishing patterns.
