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The 12th Session of the Compliance Committee (CoC) of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) was held in Busan, Rep. of Korea from 20–22 April 2015. The welcome address was given by Mr. Jeongseok Park of the International Cooperation Division, Overseas Fisheries and International Policy Bureau, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Republic of Korea. The meeting was opened by the Chair, Mr. Herminio Tembe (Mozambique). A total of 88 delegates attended the Session, composed of 72 delegates from 22 Contracting Parties (Members) of the Commission, 1 delegate from Senegal, of the 3 Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties, and 16 delegates from 10 Observers (including 5 invited experts).
(para. 2) The CoC RECALLED that the purpose of the Compliance Committee meeting is to strengthen compliance amongst Contracting Parties (Members), and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties (CPCs) by firstly reviewing progress made during the 2014/2015 intersessional period, identifying outstanding issues of non- compliance as well identifying the challenges and difficulties that each CPC and notably developing coastal States are facing in enforcing and complying with IOTC Conservation and Management Measures (CMMs), and finally to encourage such improvement during the next intersessional period.
(para. 8) The CoC NOTED that although there has been a continued improvement in the levels of compliance by some CPCs in 2014, there are still many CPCs not meeting their obligations to provide information under the various CMMs covered in the paper. Some of the required information is not only important to ensure the completeness of datasets, but also to allow the CoC to fully assess the level of compliance of CPCs with the CMMs to monitor the catch and capacity of fleets actively fishing for tuna and tuna-like species under the mandate of IOTC.
(para. 14) The CoC NOTED that the compliance reports assessing the reporting requirements are more quantitative and does not consider the quality of the information provided.
The following are a subset of the complete recommendations from the CoC12 to the Commission, which are provided at Appendix XI.
(para. 28) NOTING that the deadline for submitting Fleet Development Plans was at the end of 2009 for those CPCs who were part of the Commission at the time, the CoC RECOMMENDED that those CPCs that have expressed their desire to submit a Fleet Development Plan to do so as soon as possible..
(para. 48) The CoC RECOMMENDED that when countries are requesting the renewal of their CNCP status they have to participate in the work of the CoC and the Commission.
(para. 90) The CoC RECOMMENDED that the vessels listed in para 89 remain on the IOTC IUU Vessels List as no further information was provided to the CoC12 during its deliberations
(para. 127) The CoC RECOMMENDED that the Working Group on High Seas Boarding Scheme continue its work during the intersessional period and report the result of its work to the CoC13.
(para. 133) The CoC RECOMMENDED that the IOTC Secretariat continues with those capacity building activities and to include similar activities that would allow CPCs to address the issue of mandatory statistics.
(para. 142) The CoC RECOMMENDED that the Commission considers renewing the status of Senegal as Cooperating Non-Contracting Party of the IOTC:
(para. 143) The CoC RECOMMENDED that the Commission considers granting Bangladesh the status of Cooperating Non-Contracting Party for the first time
(para. 147) The CoC RECOMMENDED that the concerned CPCs consider the development of a proposal on a Working Party on Compliance for S20.
