E - Iccat

COMPLIANCE COMITTEE REPORT
The Delegate of the United States also explained the figures for his country and stated that due to the flexibility
allowed over several years, the figures for the United States comply with the relevant recommendations.
The Delegate of the European Community explained that Community vessels respect the tolerance for
undersized bluefin tuna, and indicated that the new trend of farming bluefin tuna has meant a significant drop in
juvenile catches. He noted that for some species the relevant Panels should undertake the task of reviewing the
size limits and their applicability. The Delegate of Croatia concurred with the Delegate of the European
Community on the influence of farming of bluefin tuna in reducing the catches of juveniles.
The Delegates of the European Community and Japan invited the Chair to urge all Contracting Parties to
transmit all their data on size limits to the ICCAT Secretariat.
Adoption
The Committee adopted the Compliance Tables, taking into account the comments made by some Delegations
during the discussion on a species-by-species basis, and forwarded them to the Plenary for final approval
(attached as Appendix 3 to ANNEX 9).
Other compliance matters
Equatorial Guinea
The Chair noted that no response had been received from Equatorial Guinea regarding the letter sent from
ICCAT in 2001 informing them of the 2000 decision by the Commission to impose trade sanctions. He
suggested that the existing trade sanctions be maintained. There was consensus within the Committee that the
trade restrictive measures against Equatorial Guinea be maintained. The Recommendation by ICCAT Concerning
the Continuance of Trade Measures Against Equatorial Guinea was adopted by the Committee and forwarded to
Plenary (see ANNEX 5 [Ref. 03-17]) and the letter to be sent by the Commission Chairman to Equatorial
Guinea is attached as Appendix 4.1 to ANNEX 9.
Panama
The Chair noted that there were no new data that warranted the establishment of trade restrictive measures or the
lifting of the status of identification for Panama. There was consensus within the Committee to maintain
identification status for Panama. The Committee approved a letter to be sent by the Commission Chairman to
Panama (attached as Appendix 4.2 to ANNEX 9 ), which was forwarded to the Plenary for final adoption.
Vanuatu
The Chair reminded the Committee about the letter of identification sent to Vanuatu on 28 November 2002.
The Delegate of Vanuatu recognized that it had been impossible to make any progress in identifying data on the
vessels from Vanuatu that allegedly fished in the Atlantic Ocean in 1998. He announced that some measures had
been taken to better control the fishing activities of vessels from Vanuatu in the future and that an agreement
with Japan had been reached to help Vanuatu fight against IUU fishing activities. He informed that all this
information would be sent to the ICCAT Secretariat through the appropriate diplomatic channels.
The Committee agreed there will be no follow-up of the actions against Vanuatu and urged Vanuatu to submit all
the information on the measures taken, for evaluation by the Committee at its 2004 meeting.
Ghana
The Delegate of Ghana referred to the measures Ghana has taken to comply with the moratorium in the Gulf of
Guinea in 2002-2003. The Committee encouraged Ghana to continue its efforts to ensure full compliance. It was
noted that this topic would be discussed in more detail at the relevant Panel.
Chinese Taipei
The Delegate of Japan proposed that measures under the Compliance Recommendation [Ref. 96-14] be taken in
respect of Chinese Taipei’s failure to comply with the catch limits for North Atlantic swordfish and bigeye tuna.
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