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The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) is an intergovernmental organisation mandated to manage tuna and tuna-like species in the Indian Ocean and adjacent seas. Its objective is to promote cooperation among its Members with a view to ensuring, through appropriate management, the conservation and optimum utilisation of stocks and encouraging sustainable development of fisheries based on such stocks.
Since 1998, the IOTC has adopted a series of conservation and management measures at its Annual Session. As required by Article X of the IOTC Agreement, each Member of the Commission shall ensure that such action is taken, under its national legislation, including the imposition of adequate penalties for violations, as may be necessary to make effective the provisions of this Agreement and to implement conservation and management measures which become binding on it.
At the Fourteenth Session of the IOTC, held in March 2010 as well as in previous sessions of the Commission, a general conclusion of the Commission was with regard to the low level of implementation of IOTC Resolutions. In particular it was noted that in some of the Member States and Cooperating non-Contracting Parties (CPCs) the concerned personnel of the fisheries administrations and other stakeholders (e.g., vessels’ owners) still have limited awareness of the objectives of the Commission; the IOTC Resolutions and the country obligations.
In this context, the IOTC Secretariat solicited, and was granted assistance by the ACP Fish II Programme to fund a regional workshop to support the implementation of the Resolutions of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission. The objectives of the Workshop were to build the capacity of some IOTC Members countries to implement the decisions (Resolutions) of the Commission and to discuss and understand some of the difficulties that these countries are faced with in the process of implementing these decisions. The Workshop also discussed measures that would help improve their compliance level.
The Workshop saw the participation from seven ACP Member States (Kenya, Mozambique, Sudan, Tanzania, Seychelles, Mauritius, and Comoros) plus one other non ACP State (Maldives), which are also IOTC Members.
The Workshop provided the ideal opportunity for the technical staff of the beneficiary countries, who are involved in implementing the decisions of the Commission, to share their experiences and challenges. At the conclusion of the Workshop the participants made nine recommendations, which in their view will result in improved implementation of the IOTC resolutions and a more effective Commission.
