According to
Harvesting Currency - The Importance of Fisheries and Aquaculture for APEC Economies, APEC members account for over 80 percent of global aquaculture production and more than 65 percent of the world’s capture fisheries. The consumption of fishery products in the APEC region is 65 percent higher than the world average. Significantly, APEC economies represent nine of the top ten fish producers in the world.
Given these figures, APEC economies are an important voice internationally on fishery-related issues and collectively have a significant impact on the global sustainability of fisheries and responsible practices in the fish trade.
Healthy marine and coastal environments support marine-related industries like aquaculture production and tourism, and the associated employment it creates contribute significantly to economic growth, as well as to food security.
Sound environmental conservation and proper marine resources management are critical to addressing challenges including overfishing and the loss of marine biodiversity. And this is effectively addressed through international and regional cooperation.
Recognizing these issues, APEC established the Marine Resource Conservation Working Group (MRCWG) in 1990 to promote initiatives to facilitate balanced and integrated domestic and regional policies and programs leading to the sustainability of the marine and coastal environments in the APEC region. The following year, APEC created the Fisheries Working Group (FWG) to achieve well-managed fisheries and aquaculture to yield optimal economic value and support of local communities and livelihoods.
In 2011, the MRCWG and the FWG jointly decided to merge and form the Ocean and Fisheries Working Group (OFWG). This merger cultivates synergy and efficiency between the two groups.
For over twenty years, these groups have actively implemented projects and engaged in annual meetings and other activities. The groups’ focus was on marine pollution, including the transportation of hazardous substances, pollution generated by land-based activities, and red tide and toxic algae, among other issues. More recently, the focus has expanded to activities such as illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the sustainable development of aquaculture.
In 2012 in Vladivostok, Russia, APEC Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to “Enhancing cooperation to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and associated trade; working towards sustainable management of marine ecosystems; improving capture fisheries management and sustainable aquaculture practices; and facilitating sustainable, open and fair trade in products of fisheries and aquaculture.”
- Current Activities
- Achievements
- Contacts
- News
- Events
The 1st Ocean and Fisheries Working Group Meeting was held in Kazan, Russia 24-26 May 2012. Among the outcomes of the meeting was endorsement of its Work Plan, which includes activities geared toward:
- Identifying potential participation of other relevant groups and private sector stakeholders in OFWG, in regard to fisheries and aquaculture products, as well as to trade promotion;
- Advancing inclusive growth by strengthening the role of fisheries and aquaculture products in food security;
- Advancing sustainable growth through sharing information about sustainable development and protection of the marine environment; and
- Enhancing OFWG capacity building efforts in response to the directions of Leaders, Ministers, and Senior Officials.
The OFWG also began work on its multi-year Strategic Plan.
Other recent activities of the OFWG include issuing an APEC Publication on “Application of Satellite Data for Sustainable Fishery Support in APEC.”
The group also completed capacity building projects, including "Seminar on Sharing Experiences of Mitigating the Impact of Extreme Climate on Aquaculture and Fisheries,” as well as “Marine Ecosystem Assessment and Management in the Asia-Pacific Region Phase III – Pilot APEC Large Marine Ecosystem Project.”
On-going projects include a study of “Potential Contribution of Small Pelagic Fish to Food Security Within the Asia-Pacific Region.”
Chinese Taipei hosted the “13th APEC Roundtable Meeting on the Involvement of the Business/Private Sector in the Sustainability of the Marine Environment” on 17-19 September 2012 in Taipei. The APEC Marine Sustainable Development Center also held the “APEC Workshop on Marine Spatial Planning” in Xiamen, China on 23-28 September 2012.
The 2nd Ocean and Fisheries Working Group Meeting will take place in Indonesia in 2013.
In 2005, APEC Ministers endorsed the Bali Plan of Action, which implements the commitments Ministers previously agreed to in the Seoul Oceans Declaration of 2002.
The Bali Plan of Action provides a framework to ensure the sustainable development APEC’s marine environments and resources to achieve sustained economic benefits from ocean resources and resilient marine-resource dependent communities. The plan continues to serve as one of the primary guides for the work of the OFWG and is also a reference for other APEC working groups.
The third APEC Ocean-Related Ministerial Meeting (AOMM3) was held in Paracas, Peru in October 2010. The meeting provided an opportunity for APEC Ministers to give a more focused level of commitment to marine issues.
APEC Oceans-related Ministers adopted the Paracas Declaration including an Action Agenda, and agreed to focus their efforts on the following four sub-themes:
- Sustainable Development and Protection of the Marine Environment by focusing their attention on:
- Understanding of the Marine Environment
- Sustainable Management of the Marine Environment
- Pollution
- Impact of Climate Change on the Oceans
- Promote Free and Open Trade and Investment
- The Role of Oceans in Food Security
Ministers also conveyed the outcomes of the AOMM3 to the first APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security that was held in Niigata, Japan, in October 2010. This is to highlight the vital contribution of marine resources and fisheries and aquaculture products to food security in the APEC region.
Ministers agreed to encourage the establishment of networks of cooperation in research and development of sustainable marine resources, fisheries and aquaculture in APEC economies, and also the establishment of associative links with Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and Arrangements (RFMO/As) and other relevant fora.
The Paracas Action Agenda is included in the Paracas Declaration which provides guidance for members to address key challenges and to manifest the early commitments to strengthen its implementation.
The OFWG will continue to focus on implementing the Paracas Declaration (2010), which builds upon the earlier Seoul Oceans Declaration (2002) and the Bali Plan of Action (2005), and subsequent guidance from APEC Leaders and Ministers.
In 2012, the OFWG endorsed its Terms of Reference, which calls upon the new group to:
- Exchange information and help foster institutional capacity building in a focused regional setting;
- Advance the discussions and development of solutions of common resource management problems such as a climate change and best practices;
- Develop projects, which will be managed and evaluated by the Working Group according to Leaders’ and Ministers’ directives, and the projects’ adherence to the SCE guidelines and procedures;
- Develop a regional approach and improved coordination for the implementation of various instruments (e.g. International Plans of Action);
- Facilitate trade and investment opportunities that promote sustainable use of fisheries, aquaculture, and marine ecosystem resources;
- Cooperate and partner with other APEC working groups, international organizations, and the private sector where interests intersect.
- Ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources as well as protection of marine ecosystems needed to support fisheries and aquaculture.
- Explore common approaches to preventing illegal fishing and related trade.
Greg SCHNEIDER (Mr)
Lead Shepherd
Senior International Trade Specialist
Office of International Affairs
National Marine Fisheries Service
NOAA, US Department of Commerce
Tel: +1-301-427-8378
Fax: +1-301-713-2313
Email:
Anang NOEGROHO Setyomoeljono (Mr)
Deputy Lead Shepherd
Vice Secretary General for International Affairs
Ministry of Marine Affair and Fisheries
Republic of Indonesia
Mina Bahari I Building 1st Floor
Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur No.16
Jakarta 10110, Indonesia
Tel: +62-21-3864639
Fax: +62-21-3864639
Email:
Sitti HAMDIYAH (Ms)
Deputy Lead Shepherd's Office
Assistant to Vice Secretary General for International Affairs
Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries
Republic of Indonesia
Mina Bahari I Building 1st Floor
Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur No.16
Jakarta 10110, Indonesia
Tel: +62-21-3864639
Fax: +62-21-3864293
Email:
Natalie NII (Ms)
Program Director
APEC Secretariat
Email: