Fisheries Ministers from 10 countries have endorsed a Regional Plan of Action to promote responsible fishing practices and combat illegal fishing in the South-East Asian region.
The plan was signed at a regional ministerial meeting held in Bali, Indonesia. This is a joint initiative by Australia and Indonesia to discuss measures to address the shared problems of illegal fishing in the South-East Asian region.
Australia’s Senator Abetz said that while Australia was seeing increasing success in its efforts to reduce illegal fishing in Australia’s waters due to its tough enforcement policy, it was also important to work closely with other countries to address illegal and unregulated fishing in the region.
Key points of the Regional Action Plan are to:
• Enhance and strengthen the overall level of fisheries management and compliance arrangements in the region
• Build upon current international agreements to ensure long-term sustainable fisheries
• Collect and manage accurate fishing information, which is essential to manage fishery resources and combat illegal fishing
• Control the size of fishing fleets at a sustainable level, to return the most benefit to communities and reduce illegal fishing activity
• Co-ordinate management at the flag, port and market level to eliminate the trade path of illegal fishing and to promote the trade of fish product caught by responsible fishing operations.
