Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission

Inland capture fisheries make a valuable contribution to food security in many parts of the world, especially in the Mekong Basin. Many of the 60 million inhabitants living in the subregion engage in small-scale fishing or fish only part-time and represent some of the least empowered and poorest people in society. However, the contribution that inland fishery resources make to rural livelihoods is often unknown or underestimated due to a lack of basic production and consumption information. As a result, development activities may inappropriately focus on other sectors at the expense of rural communities that depend on inland fisheries. Accurate information on the contribution of inland fisheries is essential for responsible development. To address these concerns an ad-hoc expert consultation was convened on 2 to 5 September 2002 in Udon Thani, Thailand with the overall objective of improving the state of knowledge in inland capture fisheries in the subregion. A report of the meeting as well as country reviews, thematic papers and case studies are included.

National Plans to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing: Models for coastal and small island developing states. For use in FAO Workshops to enhance national capacity to elaborate NPOAs-IUU.

This document presents model case studies for use in FAO regional and sub-regional workshops to enhance national capacity to elaborate National Plans of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (NPOAs-IUU). The workshops are being held as a response to widespread agreement that the 2001 FAO International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IPOA-IUU) should be put into effect by 2004. This date was stipulated in the IPOA-IUU, and reinforced by the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the United Nations General Assembly and the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI). Two model case studies are provided to show how States may develop and implement an NPOAIUU. One case study relates to coastal States, and the other to small island developing States (SIDS). While