Fish for the People Vol.18 No.3
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12066/6700
2024-03-24T19:20:55ZFish for the People Vol.18 No.3
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12066/6611
Fish for the People Vol.18 No.3
2020-12-30T00:00:00ZPushing for the elimination of IUU fishing in the Southeast Asian Region
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12066/6610
Pushing for the elimination of IUU fishing in the Southeast Asian Region
Smithrithee, Malinee; Sato, Akito; Wanchana, Worawit; Tongdee, Nualanong; Sulit, Virgilia T.; Saraphaivanich, Kongpathai
The global Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) adopted in 1995 provides the framework for dovetailing national and international efforts with sustainable utilization of the living aquatic resources and ensuring that the objectives for conservation, management, and development of such resources are achieved. The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) has been supporting the ASEAN Member States (AMSs) in the implementation of the global CCRF through its project “Regionalization of the CCRF (RCCRF),” which received financial assistance from the Government of Japan Trust Fund (JTF) and took into consideration the characteristics of the fisheries in Southeast Asia which is multi-species and smallscale in nature. Series of Regional Guidelines corresponding to the CCRF had then emanated from the RCCRF, one of which is the “Regional Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries in Southeast Asia: Responsible Fisheries Management” aimed at capacitating the AMSs to be able to formulate and implement their respective national codes of practice for responsible fisheries management.
SEAFDEC also promoted the adoption in the Southeast Asian region of the “International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing” or the IPOA-IUU, developed by FAO and adopted in 2001 as a voluntary instrument that provides the comprehensive, effective, and transparent measures by which the countries must act and establish their respective National Plans of Action on IUU Fishing (NPOAs-IUU). Subsequently, when the European Community (EC) issued the EC Regulation establishing a “Community System to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing,” which took effect on 1 January 2010, SEAFDEC also commenced new activity to facilitate exchanging of information among the AMSs on the progress as well as on the obstacles encountered in the implementation of the EC Regulation, considering its impact on the AMSs that export fish and fishery products to the EU. Parallel with the global and international initiatives, SEAFDEC also fostered stronger cooperation among the AMSs in combating IUU fishing, especially in compiling relevant information on the structure of the region’s fisheries as among the prerequisites in ensuring effective fisheries management and combating IUU fishing in the waters of Southeast Asia. Through the JTF-funded project “Promotion of Sustainable Fisheries and IUU Fishingrelated Countermeasures in Southeast Asia” implemented
by SEAFDEC from 2010 to 2013, the subsequent JTF-funded projects “Promotion of Countermeasures to Reduce IUU Fishing” implemented by the SEAFDEC Training Department (SEAFDEC/TD) and “Combating IUU Fishing in the Southeast Asian Region through Application of Catch Certification for Trading of Fish and Fishery Products” by the Marine Fishery Resources Development and Management Department (SEAFDEC/MFRDMD) during 2014-2019, as well as the activities carried out through the seven-year SEAFDEC-Sweden Project “Fisheries and Habitat Management, Climate Change and Social Well-being in Southeast Asia” implemented during 2013-2019, several measures have been developed by SEAFDEC together with the AMSs and in collaboration with regional and international organizations, to effectively address IUU fishing concerns in the region. In order to share the experiences of SEAFDEC in the development and adoption of the measures for combating IUU fishing, and explore new ideas and the ways forward
to combat IUU fishing in the Southeast Asian region, SEAFDEC/TD virtually convened in Samut Prakan, Thailand, the “Teleseminar on the Way Forward for Combating IUU Fishing in Southeast Asia” on 24-26 August 2020 followed by the “Teleworkshop on Development and Improvement of Regional Tools (RFVR and PSM) for Combating IUU Fishing in Southeast Asia” on 27-28 August 2020.
2020-12-30T00:00:00ZTowards Guaranteed Traceability of Fish and Fishery Products from Southeast Asia: the ASEAN Catch Documentation Scheme
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12066/6609
Towards Guaranteed Traceability of Fish and Fishery Products from Southeast Asia: the ASEAN Catch Documentation Scheme
Ali, Mazalina; Katoh, Masaya; Saraphaivanich, Kongpathai
During the implementation of the project “Combating IUU Fishing in the Southeast Asian Region through the Application of Catch Certification for International Trade in Fish and Fishery Products” by the SEAFDEC Marine Fishery Resources Development and Management Department (SEAFDEC/MFRDMD) with funding support from the Japanese Trust Fund (JTF)-II in 2011-2012 and JTF-VI during 2013-2019, the series of core experts meetings convened among SEAFDEC and the ASEAN Member States (AMSs) at the outset of the Project implementation agreed on the development and promotion of the ASEAN Guidelines for Preventing the Entry of Fish and Fishery Products from IUU Fishing Activities into the Supply Chain also known as the ASEAN Guidelines. Moreover, as part of the ASEAN Guidelines, a catch certification system for largeand small-scale fisheries should also be established for the Southeast Asian region to ensure that only non-IUU/legal fish and fishery products are traded in the supply chain. These tools had been envisioned to address the issues and concerns on IUU fishing activities directly or indirectly, in large- and small-scale fisheries in the Southeast Asian waters, as well as enhance and strengthen the traceability of the region’s fish and fishery products entering the supply chain.
2020-12-30T00:00:00ZEnhancing Regional Capability in Monitoring and Analysis of Contaminants in Seafood: Southeast Asian Perspective
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12066/6608
Enhancing Regional Capability in Monitoring and Analysis of Contaminants in Seafood: Southeast Asian Perspective
Yihang, Ong
The “Regional Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries in Southeast Asia: Post-harvest Practices and Trade” stipulates among others, the need to ensure the trading of “safe fish and fishery products” from the Southeast Asian region. As defined in the said Regional Guidelines, “safe fish and fishery products” refers to seafood that does not cause illness, injury, or death upon consumption by consumers. Moreover, any fish products can be “unsafe” for consumption because of the presence or growth of pathogenic organisms or their toxins (e.g. bacteria, viruses, fungi), the presence of biotoxins (e.g. biogenics, amines, and ciguatoxins) and parasites, or contaminated with chemicals, drug residues, or unsafe materials (e.g. heavy metals). In view of the prevailing presence of chemical contaminants and drug residues in seafood products and their serious implications to trade and human health, SEAFDEC launched in 2004 the fiveyear Program “Chemical and Drug Residues in Fish and Fish Products in Southeast Asia” which was implemented by the Marine Fisheries Research Department (MFRD) of SEAFDEC and funded by the Japanese Trust Fund (JTF)-II of the Government of Japan. Intended to obtain an understanding of the levels of chemical contaminants in fish and fish products in Southeast Asia, and to transfer the developed testing technologies and methodologies to the region through capacity building, the Program was implemented through regional consultations and training, and conduct of surveys to monitor and analyze the occurrence of chemical contaminants and drug residues in seafood products.
Furthermore, the consumption of shellfishes and fishes that had been contaminated by biotoxins could lead to incidence of human intoxications and even deaths. Comprising poisonous substances that are naturally present in fish and fishery products or accumulated by aquatic animals that feed on algae that produce toxins or through the water that contained such toxins, biotoxins when consumed represent a significant and expanding threat not only to public health risk worldwide but also to the risks of mass kills in fishes and shellfishes as well as deaths in marine mammals and birds. In an effort to address such concerns, MFRD continued to implement the aforementioned JTF Program from 2009 to 2012 with funding support from JTF-II, by focusing on biotoxins monitoring in the Southeast Asian region. The main objective of the program was to increase the attention of concerned stakeholders in expanding and improving the initiatives to monitor, detect, and share information on biotoxins to reduce the public health risks associated with the consumption of contaminated seafood. The Program was implemented through capacity building in the analytical methods for monitoring and analyzing the occurrence of the diarrhoetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) toxins, lipophilic toxins, paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins, and tetradotoxin (TTX), as exemplified through the conduct of monitoring surveys on PSP toxins in the ASEAN Member States (AMSs). Upon its completion in 2012, the Program was extended from 2013 to 2019 under the JTF-VI as a continuing effort to support and strengthen the regional capabilities in biotoxin monitoring. This extension had enabled the AMSs to enhance their capabilities in monitoring and analyzing other biotoxins such as the amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) toxin (domoic acid), azaspiracids (AZA) toxin, and brevetoxins (BTX) which causes neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP), as well as in identifying and analyzing the occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the AMSs.
As a result, this Program which was implemented for 15 years and received sustained funding from the JTF, had enabled the AMSs to gain greater understanding of and enhanced their knowledge of the occurrences and incidences of chemical and drug contaminants in seafood as well as those of biotoxins and on HABs. Through the Program’s capacity building activities, the regional capability of the national testing laboratories of the respective AMSs had been improved allowing them to monitor and analyze such contaminants in seafood. Eventually, the Program has empowered the AMSs to achieve high integrity of their respective laboratories and facilities as stipulated in the 2001 and 2011 Resolution and Plan of Action for Food Security for the ASEAN Region, especially in terms of analyzing the occurrence of chemical and drug contaminants, biotoxins, and HABs in seafood, and ensuring the quality and safety of the region’s fish and fishery products for local consumption as well as for export.
2020-12-30T00:00:00Z