The 11th South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (SEAFO) Annual Meeting, held from December 1-5, 2014, in Windhoek, Namibia adopted all conservation measures in line with scientific advice and reinforced the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems for bottom fisheries. This measures adopted included the adoption of bi-annual catch limits for alfonsino, pelagic armourhead and orange roughy as well as harvest control rules.
The current compliance records in SEAFO are very positive and the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing list was updated taking into account new lists of other regional fisheries management organisations including NAFO, NEAFC and CCAMLR.
To improve monitoring and control further, the EU offered to support the SEAFO secretariat to install a system allowing the transmission of data from the vessel monitoring systems of members. Some adjustments to the management, surveillance and control system will now be discussed with a view to possible adoption in the next annual meeting.
Background
SEAFO is a regional fisheries management organisation in South East Atlantic Ocean established in line with the provisions of the United Nations Law of the Sea and United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement. The objective of its Convention is to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources in the Convention Area through the effective implementation of the Convention. The Convention Area excludes exclusive economic zones of the coastal states in the region.
Source European Commission