FFA

Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency

Established in 1979, the FFA’s 17 members are the 15 Pacific SIDS, plus Australia and New Zealand. The FFA was established to assist member countries in the management and development of the fishery resources of their EEZs. The initial emphasis of the FFA’s programmes was on controlling foreign vessels and maximizing benefits from their operations. Over time, greater emphasis has been given to assisting member countries to develop their own oceanic fishing industries. More recently, there has been greater priority on assisting member countries in conservation and management and FFA has played a leading role in supporting Pacific SIDS in the preparation and implementation of the WCPF Convention. Its major programmes cover the areas of:

• economics and marketing, including providing assistance in negotiation of foreign access agreement, marketing and industry development;

• fisheries management, including the preparation of fisheries management plans and advice on regional fisheries management issues;

• monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) including the operation of the FFA vessel monitoring system and vessel register and coordination and strengthening of national compliance programs; and

• legal and Treaty services, including administering regional access arrangements for US vessels and for purse seine vessels of member countries and providing advice on national, regional and legal issues.

The FFA is financed by a mix of donor funds, fees from foreign vessel owners for costs of compliance programs, charges to members deducted from access fees for Treaty services and contributions by member countries. The FFA is expected to provide some services for compliance to the WCPF Commission, including operating the Commission satellite-based vessel monitoring system and the Commission vessel register under contract to the Commission.

The FFA will be the primary executing agency for the Project.

IUCN

The World Conservation Union IUCN

The World Conservation Union is an association of government and nongovernmental organisations and was founded in 1948. Its members, from some 140 countries include 80 States, 114 government agencies and 800-plus NGOs.

More than 10,000 internationally-recognised scientists and experts from more than 180 countries volunteer their services to its six global commissions. Its 1,000 staff members in offices around the world are working on some 500 projects.

For more than 50 years this 'Green Web' of partnerships has generated environmental conventions, global standards, scientific knowledge and innovative leadership.

IUCN is the only environmental organisation accorded the status of Permanent Observer to the United Nations General Assembly, providing IUCN with access to many meetings closed to non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Its associated commissions, such as the Species Survival Commission, the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and the Environmental Law Commission, provide IUCN with access to a network of over 10,000 experts. IUCN is perceived as a focal point of knowledge and expertise, a respected and frequently cited source of information and reference.

IUCN's Global Marine Programme has access to global institutions and governments, has the ability to bring good science to bear on discussions, has a high level of credibility and has policy and legal expertise to provide governments with the facts and progressive options that have provided the basis for much of the ongoing discussions on deep sea biodiversity, particularly seamounts.

IUCN is working with leading deep sea scientists from around the world to increase knowledge on these little-studied ecosystems and to use that knowledge to put in place effective conservation and management measures as appropriate. The WCPA High Seas Marine Protected Areas Task Force, with its broad-based membership, has become a recognised source of expertise on high and deep seas protection.

SPC

Secretariat of the Pacific Community – Oceanic Fisheries Programme

The SPC is the oldest and largest of the Pacific Islands regional organisations, with membership including metropolitan countries (France, UK and the US) and their territories. It provides technical advice, training and research to develop the capabilities of its members focused in the areas of land and marine resources, health and socio-economics.

The objective of the SPC Oceanic Fisheries Programme is to provide member countries with the scientific information and advice necessary to rationally manage fisheries exploiting the region's resources of tuna, billfish and related species.

The three major programmes of the OFP are:

• Statistics and Monitoring, including the maintenance and development of national and regional fishery databases and estimation of fishing catches and effort;
• Ecology and Biology, including the study of the biology and behaviour of tuna and related species, the effect of environmental variability, including climate change on pelagic stocks and the pelagic ecosystem and ecosystem research; and
• Stock Assessment and Modelling, particularly the use of statistical population dynamics models to provide assessments of stocks targeted by fishing in the region and scientific advice on the management of those stocks.

OFP activities are currently funded largely by donors, with some funding from the SPC core budget financed by contributions of Members. The OFP will be the major provider of scientific services to the WCPF Commission. The cost of these services will progressively be financed by the Commission. The OFP will also be responsible for the bulk of the activities under Component 1 of the Project.

Standing Committee on Tuna and Billfish

The Standing Committee on Tuna and Billfish (SCTB) has provided an informal annual forum for scientists and others with an interest in the tuna stocks of the western and central Pacific region to meet to discuss scientific issues related to data, research and stock assessment. It is supported by the SPC/OFP. Its aims are to coordinate fisheries data collection, compilation and dissemination; review research on the biology, ecology, environment and fisheries for tunas and associated species; identify research needs and provide a means of coordination to most efficiently and effectively meet those needs; provide assessments of stock status; and provide opinion on various scientific issues related to data, research and stock assessment of western and central Pacific Ocean tuna fisheries. The Standing Committee has provided a venue for scientific collaboration in the areas listed above in the absence of formal intergovernmental arrangements for this purpose. The SCTB met for the last time in August 2004. Its functions will be taken over by the Scientific Committee of the WCPF Commission.