Port State measures and port monitoring in Southeast Asia

Abstract

The demand for fish and fishery commodities around the world has been increasing. In order to meet such demand, active fishing vessels have been growing in terms of number and efficiency, resulting in overcapacity in most fishing areas of the world with the fishery resources becoming over-exploited. According to FAO, the world’s decreasing fishery production from marine capture fisheries over the last two decades brought about worldwide concern on the effectiveness of fisheries management, enforcement of restrictions and regulations, and long-term sustainability at optimal levels of utilization of fishery products. Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing has been recognized as one of the detrimental factors that affect the health of fish stocks and marine ecosystems, as well as the livelihood of legitimate fishers. In this regard, Port State Measures had been considered as an efficient tool to regulate fishing activities at landing ports and combat IUU fishing. This report provides information on the Port State Measures Agreement and the experience of some countries in Southeast Asia, in initiating efforts to adopt the Agreement which the other countries could use as reference in preparing for the eventual implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement in the Southeast Asian region.