E - Iccat

PWG REPORT
ANNEX 10
REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE
PERMANENT WORKING GROUP FOR THE IMPROVEMENT
OF ICCAT STATISTICS AND CONSERVATION MEASURES (PWG)
1. Opening of the meeting
The Permanent Working Group for the Improvement of ICCAT Statistics and Conservation Measures (PWG)
met at the Dublin Castle in Dublin, Ireland, on the occasion of the 18 th Regular Meeting of the Commission. The
meeting was opened by the PWG Chair, Ms. Kimberly Blankenbeker (United States).
2. Adoption of the Agenda
The Agenda (Appendix 1 to ANNEX 10) was adopted as proposed, with the exception that the Data Workshop
was considered by the Joint Meeting of the Compliance Committee and PWG. The Chair also noted that the
Joint Meeting would address some of the vessel list issues that concerned both groups under item 5 of the Joint
Meeting Agenda; however, development of the list of large-scale tuna longline vessels believed to be engaged in
illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities would be undertaken by the PWG.
3. Appointment of the Rapporteur
Mr. David Kerstetter (United States) was appointed Rapporteur for the meeting.
4. Status of implementation of Statistical Document Programs
A representative from the Secretariat introduced a summary document 1 that described all of the data received by
the Secretariat from Contracting Parties under ICCAT´s Statistical Document Programs for bluefin tuna, bigeye
tuna, and swordfish. The Parties thanked the Secretariat for its efforts.
The Delegate from Japan introduced a proposal for minor changes to Statistical Documents to include bluefin
tuna farming data and ICCAT vessel identification number information. The Delegate of Gabon noted his
support of the proposal.
The Delegate of the EC agreed that while the rationale for such a change was clear, there was a possibility of
overlap with other proposals on bluefin tuna farming issues. The Delegate of the EC also commented that the
ICCAT Statistical Document Program was relatively new to the Commission. This had required significant
domestic effort for some Contracting Parties and Cooperating non-Contracting Parties, Entities or Fishing
Entities to implement, and it may be better not to make changes to the document at this time. He commented that
it may also benefit the Working Group to examine the tracking systems used by other Regional Fishery
Management Organizations (RFMOs), such as the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Marine
Resources (CCALMR).
The Chair noted that the Statistical Document Programs, when originally debated and subsequently
implemented, were intended to evolve over time to become more efficient and harmonized. In a later session,
the Chair noted that Panel 2 had considered the Recommendation by ICCAT Concerning the Amendment of the
Forms of the ICCAT Bluefin/Bigeye/Swordfish Statistical Documents (see ANNEX 5 [Ref. 03-19]) and had
referred that document to the Commission for adoption. The PWG had no objection to this action.
1 This report is on file at the Secretariat.
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