Mauritius hosts Fisheries Agreement meeting

Mauritius will host the first Meeting of the Compliance Committee of the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA) and the 4th Meeting of the Parties from 23 to 30 June 2017. The Committee will monitor, review and assess the implementation of, and compliance with the Agreement and make recommendations to the Meeting of the Parties on new compliance and management measures. During the 4th Meeting of Parties, participants will review the state of fishery resources, promote and coordinate research activities. They will also evaluate the impact of fishing on the fishery resources and the marine environment, formulate and adopt conservation and management measures. The adoption of generally recommended international minimum standards for the responsible conduct of fishing operations is also on the agenda.

SIOFA is a multilateral agreement adopted in July 2006 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation for the conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources in the waters beyond national jurisdiction in the Southern Indian Ocean.  The main objective is to ensure the long term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources in the area of competence through cooperation among the Contracting Parties. Another objective is to promote the sustainable development of fisheries, taking into account the needs of developing States bordering the competence area, and in particular the least-developed among them and the Small Island Developing States.