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.