THE second annual South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (Seafo) Commission meeting, which focuses on the conservation and management of fish stocks, began in Windhoek yesterday.
Seafo is an international organisation responsible for the conservation and sustainable management of marine resources in the high seas off Namibia, Angola and South Africa. High seas refers to open ocean, not within one country’s jurisdiction.Those gathered for the four-day conference heard that the greatest threat to the sustainability of fisheries in high seas is illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.Statistics have revealed that 25 per cent of catches in some high seas are from illegal fishing, with an estimated value of N$90 billion per year.Addressing participants at the opening of the meeting, the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Dr Abraham Iyambo, said illegal fishing was a scourge that had to be curbed.He blamed weak governance that allows illegal fishing to continue and the minimal punishments for offenders.”Seafo member states should have an unquestionable political will to fight IUU.Seafo should have teeth! I strongly believe that regional fisheries management organisations are strategically positioned to fight many governance ills.”In order to do this, they need to be strong and effective institutions.Otherwise they would suffer from delivery deficiency,” said Iyambo.The Minister urged Seafo to develop closer working relationships with other international organisations involved in marine affairs.Last week the Seafo scientific committee discussed appropriate ways to research fish resources under Seafo jurisdiction.Recommendations from the scientists’ meeting will be presented to the Seafo Commission this week.The organisation currently has nine signatories and the Seafo Convention text was signed in April 2001 by coastal states – Angola, South Africa, Namibia and Britain (on behalf of St Helena and its dependencies of Tristan da Cunha and Ascension Islands) and deepwater fishing nations of the European Union, Iceland, Norway, Republic of Korea and United States of America.The headquarters of Seafo is in Walvis Bay, and was opened in March 2005, with Dr Hashali Hamukuaya as its Executive Secretary.High seas refers to open ocean, not within one country’s jurisdiction.Those gathered for the four-day conference heard that the greatest threat to the sustainability of fisheries in high seas is illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.Statistics have revealed that 25 per cent of catches in some high seas are from illegal fishing, with an estimated value of N$90 billion per year.Addressing participants at the opening of the meeting, the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Dr Abraham Iyambo, said illegal fishing was a scourge that had to be curbed.He blamed weak governance that allows illegal fishing to continue and the minimal punishments for offenders.”Seafo member states should have an unquestionable political will to fight IUU.Seafo should have teeth! I strongly believe that regional fisheries management organisations are strategically positioned to fight many governance ills.”In order to do this, they need to be strong and effective institutions.Otherwise they would suffer from delivery deficiency,” said Iyambo. The Minister urged Seafo to develop closer working relationships with other international organisations involved in marine affairs.Last week the Seafo scientific committee discussed appropriate ways to research fish resources under Seafo jurisdiction.Recommendations from the scientists’ meeting will be presented to the Seafo Commission this week.The organisation currently has nine signatories and the Seafo Convention text was signed in April 2001 by coastal states – Angola, South Africa, Namibia and Britain (on behalf of St Helena and its dependencies of Tristan da Cunha and Ascension Islands) and deepwater fishing nations of the European Union, Iceland, Norway, Republic of Korea and United States of America.The headquarters of Seafo is in Walvis Bay, and was opened in March 2005, with Dr Hashali Hamukuaya as its Executive Secretary.
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