Institutional Reform will provide support to countries to reform and realign their fisheries administrations and arrangements for inter-departmental liaison relating to oceanic fisheries and to establish or strengthen consultative processes with stakeholders. Priorities identified by the national missions for this sub-component included institutional restructuring and strengthening reviews, typically responding to new policy directions set out in national management plans. The project document background described the development of successful models for institutional change, including the kind of self-financing authority adopted in the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Papua New Guinea.
Institutional Reform will also provide support for the establishment or strengthening of cooperation between national non-governmental stakeholders so that they can participate more effectively in oceanic fisheries management affairs. This is specifically aimed at providing support to the establishment and strengthening of associations of fishers, both industrial and small scale in ways that will enable them to have a more effective voice on issues that affect them, especially those related to the Convention, responding to one of the major concerns raised during the national missions.
The intended outcome of Institutional Reform activities of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded Pacific Islands Oceanic Fisheries Management Project is expected to help public sector fisheries administrations change through reformation, realignment and to become strengthened by enhancing the capacities of national non-governmental organisations to participate in oceanic fisheries management.
Project funds to date have been directed on the basis of identified in-country priorities, as per the original endorsed project document, updated in-country priorities identified after recent in-country visits by the Project Coordinator, integration with any activities identified by donor agencies (eg., AusAID, NZAID), and any other means by which the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) members identify such institutional reform priorities with the FFA.
The Government of Nauru requested an Institutional Strenthening Scoping Study as a matter as a matter of priority and this study was undertaken in 2007. In accordance with the request from Nauru the IS Scoping work covered the whole of the NFMRA
Nauru Fisheries and Marine Resources Authority (NFMRA) Institutional Strengthening Scoping Study Report
Mr. Robert Ferraris who has extensive experience in the area of institutional strengthening was the FFA project leader consultant led this exercise, with Darren Cameron (FFA Fisheries Management Adviser) who managed the work. An AusAID representative Mr. Gordon Anderson was an important IS scoping team member during the initial in-country visit to Nauru and with the preparation of draft scoping study document in cooperation with the NFMRA.
The Nauru Institutional Strengthening (IS) Scoping Study Draft Report comprising the draft Activity Feasibility Study and Design Document was presented to the Nauru Fisheries and Marine Resources Authority (NFMRA) in April 2007. At this time FFA consultant, Mr Garry Preston of Gillette, Preston and Associates visited NFMRA to conduct an on-ground assessment of the draft Activity Feasibility Study and Design Document. On the request of the Nauru Fisheries Minister, Mr. Roland Kun, Garry presented the outline of the Activity Feasibility Study and Design Document to the President and Cabinet (comprising 5 Ministers). The proposal and its recommendations for institutional strengthening in Nauru was received in a positive light by the Nauruan government and Minister Kun advised FFA officers that he was keen to seek donor support for the implementation of the proposed project.
AusAID have now agreed to fund implementation of a large Institutional Strengthening Project on the basis of the OFM funded (IS) Scoping Study with the recruitment of a Fisheries Management Institutional Strengthening Specialist to be based in Nauru, being initiated in May 2008.
The Government of Kiribati in late 2007 requested an Institutional Strengthening Scoping Study for the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources and Development. In-country visits to conduct this work occurred in November 2007 and April 2008. This work will be a topic in a future edition of this newsletter.
For further information please contact:
Darren Cameron
Fisheries Management Advisor/FFA/ phone: (677) 21124
Email: darren.cameron@ffa.int
This page contains a report on experiences and lessons learned from fisheries institutional reform (IR) and institutional strengthening (IS) activities in the Pacific. Critical input into this report came from discussions at a workshop conducted at the FFA Headquarters in Honiara on 15-16 May 2007.
This workshop was co-funded by FFA Trust Funds for National Institutional Strengthening Review and the OFM Project.
Discussions at this workshop, together with information garnered from informal discussions with of member country representatives at the annual Forum Fisheries Committee meeting in 2007 and other reviewed literature has led to this valuable review of the factors necessary for sustainable institutional reform and strengthening. Information on the pros and cons of different Statutory Authority and Departmental fishery governance models is likely to be of considerable interest to persons with fisheries management responsibilities at all levels.
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