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.
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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
i. Understanding of the Marine Environment
ii. Sustainable Management of the Marine Environment
iii. 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 will provide guidance for members to address key challenges and to manifest the early commitments to strengthen its implementation.
The previous joint sessions of the MRCWG and the FWG demonstrated activities of common concern to both working groups, including:
- Management strategies for Marine Protected Areas, fishery resources and aquaculture;
- Exotic marine species introduction;
- Capacity building on marine and fishery resources and coral reef conservation;
- The strategy on the implementation of destructive fishing practices;
- Derelict fishing gear;
- Aquaculture; and
- Information sharing and cooperation mechanism
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.
Priority issues for the new working group include:
- Understanding and promoting the role of ocean, ecosystems, fisheries, and other resources in food security within APEC policy discussions.
- Information, capacity development and sharing best practice to support better understanding of marine ecosystems and their vulnerability to climate change impacts.
- Capacity development to support understanding of the value of marine ecosystem services and effective use of management tools to conserve those resources, including Marine Spatial Planning, Marine Protected Areas, Ecosystem Based Management and Integrated Coastal Zone Management: An Ecosystem Approach to Fishery Management;
- Food security;
- Climate change impact; and
- Capacity building.
Natalie NII (Ms)
Program Director
APEC Secretariat
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