SEAFDEC Newsletter Vol.42 No.3

Abstract

For the third quarter of 2019, SEAFDEC welcomed Ms. Malinee Smithrithee as the new Secretary-General and Chief of the Training Department starting October 2019 until September 2021.

In this quarter, one of the very important events was the “ASEAN-SEAFDEC Regional Meeting on the Resolution and Plan of Action for ASEAN Region Towards 2030” which came up with the draft RES&POA-2030 that accommodates emerging issues and anticipated fisheries priorities of the region in the coming decade. Several events were also organized toward sustaining the region’s fishery resources. The “Technical Consultative Meeting on Drafting a Regional Plan of Action for Management of Transboundary Species: Indo-Pacific mackerel in the Gulf of Thailand” was organized and came up with the draft Regional Action Plan to serve as direction toward appropriate management of the species based on scientific information generated from the countries in the region. The “Third Regional Meeting on Enhancing Sustainable Utilization and Management Scheme of Tropical Anguillid Eels in Southeast Asia” was organized as a final event of the two-year project “Enhancing Sustainable Utilization and Management Scheme of Tropical Anguillid Eels” supported by the Japan-ASEAN Integrated Fund (JAIF). SEAFDEC also organized the side event “SEAFDEC Experiences on Sharks” during the CoP18 of CITES to disseminate the experience of SEAFDEC and the lessons learnt on the conservation and management of sharks in the region.

Toward strengthening sub-regional cooperation, convened during this quarter were the “8th Meeting of the Gulf of Thailand Sub-region” and the “Meeting on the Development of MCS Network for the Southern Andaman Sea Subregion” that discussed the ways forward on management of transboundary species as well as MCS network including sharing of data among countries in the sub-region. SEAFDEC also continued to conduct activities toward combating IUU fishing, including capacity building on port State measures and promotion of the ASEAN Catch Documentation Scheme. In addition, capacity building activities on sustainable fisheries and aquaculture were also carried out, e.g. on optimizing energy use and improving safety in fishing activities, aquaculture of several species, including through the Farmers’ Forum organized to commemorate the 46th Anniversary of AQD in July 2019.

Furthermore, in response to the approval of the SEAFDEC Gender Strategy by the SEAFDEC Council in early 2019, a number of activities were also carried out in this quarter toward supporting the integration of gender in fisheries as well as in SEAFDEC activities for future implementation.