Fisheries Working Group - Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

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The fisheries industry in APEC economies presently accounts for over 75% of the world's capture fisheries and over 90% of the world aquaculture production. The APEC region consumes 70% of the world's fish products.

The Fisheries Working Group (FWG) aims to promote -

The conservation and sustainable use of fisheries resources.
Sustainable development of aquaculture and habitat preservation.
Development of solutions to common resource management problems.
The enhancement of food safety and quality of fish and fisheries products.
Sector-specific work relating to trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

FWG activities over the past few years were initially guided by the 2002 Seoul Oceans Declaration, as it addressed among others:

the issues of the conservation and sustainable use of fisheries resources and related ecosystems;
the sustainable development of aquaculture;
advancing the debate, tools and implementation of common resource management problems;
the enhancement of post-harvest facilities, including food quality and safety of fish and fisheries products; and
work relating to trade and investment liberalisation, facilitation and promotion.

The FWG was created in 1991.

Achievements
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The Bali Plan of Action (BPA), issued as a result of the 2nd APEC Ocean Related Ministerial Meeting (AOMM2) which was held in Bali, Indonesia in September 2005, provides a comprehensive near to medium-term blueprint of activities. The BPA calls on the Fisheries Working Group to:

Ensure the sustainable management of the marine environment and its resources
- Understanding oceans, seas and coasts - through undertaking research, communication and information exchange on fisheries and other marine activities, and building capacity to enable APEC economies to conform to international reporting regimes;
- Managing the marine environment sustainably - through such activities as sharing of best practices on the roles and function of the business and private sectors, and understanding and managing the impacts of human activities, including fishing practices and aquaculture, on environmental health and productivity;
- Managing living resources sustainably - through various measures addressing issues such as IUU (illegal, unregulated, and unreported) fishing, bycatch, the use of conservation and fisheries management schemes, and encouraging APEC members to conform to international fisheries regimes, among others.
Provide for Sustained Economic Benefits from Oceans
- Maximize value from use, production and harvesting - through a wide range of initiatives such as health and safety standards, and production and post-harvest practices.
- Trade facilitation and market access - with priorities being support for the WTO/Doha negotiations, exploring greater market access of SMEs, and other measures to ensure consonance with ongoing WTO negotiations, among others.

The FWG has also taken a very pro-active role in pursuing its agenda by formulating a Strategic Framework as its guide, and has also drawn up an interim list of BPA priorities while a BPA Stock Take project is still being undertaken.

Current Activities

From 24-26 April 2007 in Sanctuary Cove, Gold Coast, Australia, APEC member economies reviewed existing initiatives and prioritized future activities that support the Bali Plan of Action. Main topics of reporting included National Programs of Action (NPOAs); Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing; Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) measures; and the role of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs).

During the Fisheries Management session, further discussions were held on the threat posed by IUUs, and the continuing importance and need to review the performance of RFMOs. A representative from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also gave two presentations on current initiatives - first, on the Fisheries Resources Monitoring System (FIRMS) which is a formal partnership arrangement currently including regional fisheries bodies aimed at monitoring the state of world fishery resources and status and trends of fisheries and their management. And second, on the FAO FISHCODE-STF project which includes a structured assessment process that utilizes domestic inventories of data collection systems, marine resources and fisheries with a special focus on small scale fisheries.

In the session on Aquaculture, economies shared experiences and expressed views and particular concern in the following areas - food safety; marketing and investment; the high cost of production in certain, especially, developed economies; market access; diversification of species for aquaculture; biosecurity issues; feed issues and the potential to learn from standards used for organic aquaculture; environmental issues especially addressing concerns regarding global warming; the impacts of aquaculture on coastal regions, and the increasing costs of access to coastal areas; and finally, the role of aquaculture in poverty alleviation.

Finally, the session on trade and investment liberalization and facilitation provided an opportunity for APEC member economies to discuss issues relating to fish and fish products trade, such as traceability and subsidies