At an informal preparatory meeting for the upcoming workshop of the UN General Assembly on the impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep sea fish stocks, to take place in September 2011, participants considered a draft Organization of Work for the workshop and discussed potential changes to the draft.
A revised Organization of Work will be circulated in mid-June 2011.
1 June 2011: The UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS) organized an informal preparatory meeting for the upcoming workshop to discuss implementation of relevant paragraphs of UN General Assembly Resolutions 61/105 and 64/72 on the impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep sea fish stocks.
The meeting, held on 1 June 2011, at UN Headquarters in New York, US, considered a draft Organization of Work for the workshop, which will take place from 15-16 September 2011, during the first round of informal consultations on the draft resolution on sustainable fisheries.
According to the draft Organization of Work, the workshop would be structured around a series of segments involving panel presentations and a general discussion among participants. The first panel would focus on scientific information on the impacts of bottom fisheries on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep fish stocks; the second panel on the experience of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) in addressing such impacts; the third panel on the experience of States in addressing such impacts; the fourth panel on the experience of States and RFMOs in cooperating to collect and exchange scientific and technical data and information, and to develop or stregthen data collection standards, procedures and protocols and research programmes; the fifth panel on the experience of developing States in addressing the above-mentioned impacts, focusing on challenges, financial and technical assitance, training and cooperation; and the sixth and final panel on the programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) for Deep Sea High Seas Fisheries.
The workshop would be led by a moderator, to be appointed by the informal consultations, who will prepare a written summary of the workshop discussions for consideration by the General Assembly in its review of actions taken by States and RFMOs on impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep sea fish stocks.
In the ensuing discussion on the draft Organization of Work, participants in the preparatory meeting suggested: placing more emphasis on the second panel; ensuring enough opportunities for NGOs and industry to speak; ensuring that different stakeholders contribute to different panels, rather than devoting panels to specific groups of stakeholders; including State scientists in the panels to present States’ challenges and respond to statements made by stakeholders; discussing South-South cooperation; ensuring broad-based representation of different RFMOs; and allowing discussion of the FAO’s “State of the World Fisheries” report.
It was clarified that the workshop will be convened immediately after the first reading of the draft resolution on sustainable fisheries, and that a revised Organization of Work will be circulated in mid-June 2011. [IISD RS Sources]