E - Iccat

ICCAT REPORT 2002-2003 (II)
ANNEX 3
INTRODUCTORY AND OPENING ADDRESSES
& STATEMENTS TO THE PLENARY SESSIONS
3.1 INTRODUCTORY AND OPENING ADDRESSES
By Mr. Masanori Miyahara, Chairman of the Commission
The Honorable Mr. Dick Roche, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland, Distinguished
Delegates from Contracting Parties, Distinguished Delegates from Observer Delegations, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is indeed an honor for me to open the 18 th Regular Meeting of the Commission in the beautiful and historical
city of Dublin. It is particularly impressive to be sitting here at this modern conference center, embedded in this
complex known as “Dublin Castle”, where the modern and the old form such a powerful combination. And, it is
particularly enjoyable to have such friendly hosts as our Irish friends are.
And now I would like to turn my attention to the work ahead. For many years, ICCAT has been at the forefront
of many activities that are of interest to all regional fishery bodies that have a mandate to manage high seas
fisheries. This year I hope that you will join me, once again, to continue to set the pace.
We continue to grow. Since we last met in Bilbao, four more countries have joined our Commission. They are
Vanuatu, Cyprus, Turkey and Malta. I sincerely welcome them on behalf of the other members of the
Commission.
Last year, we successfully concluded very difficult negotiations of sharing arrangements for Atlantic swordfish
and eastern bluefin tuna. At the same time, we established instruments that will allow us to keep better track of
all large-scale vessels fishing for tuna and tuna-like species in the Atlantic. We established both “positive” list
measures and “negative” list measures that are now being implemented.
This year we need to focus again on some species. In particular, we need to decide upon conservation and
management measures for bigeye tuna and for South Atlantic albacore. We need to close the loopholes that have
been opened by the current practice of bluefin tuna farming, which is making is difficult to collect reliable data
for this species.
At the same time, this year we need to continue to agree on comprehensive instruments for monitoring, control
and surveillance. We need to finalize the streamlining of the process that leads to trade sanctions for those States
that behave in ways that diminish the effectiveness of our management regime. The Working Groups that met
earlier this year in Madeira made tremendous progress on both these issues. It is now up to this meeting, through
the Comp liance Committee and the Permanent Working Group, to agree on the most urgent measures and to
decide on a future course for negotiating the more contentious issues.
On behalf of the Commission, I extend my deepest appreciation to the Government of Ireland and to the
European Community for hosting this meeting. And now, distinguished Delegates, it is my honor to introduce
the Honorable Mr. Dick Roche for the opening address.
By Mr. Dick Roche, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Delegates:
On behalf of the Irish Government, I am pleased to welcome you to Dublin for the 18 th Regular Meeting of the
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).
In particular, I would like to welcome you to historic Dublin Castle as a fitting venue for a meeting of such
international importance in the fisheries sector.
Two words stand out in the title of ICCAT: international and conservation.
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