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International Organizations Compendium
Committee
for the Eastern Central Atlantic Fisheries [CECAF]
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Resolution 1/48 of the FAO
Council
Established by the FAO Council at its 48th Session,
June 1967 under Article VI(2) of the FAO Constitution. Its Statutes were
promulgated by the Director-General of the FAO on 19 September 1967 (amended
in November 1992)
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Membership
As of 31 Jan 2005 |
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Benin, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Congo (Democratic Republic of),
Congo (Republic of), Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, European Community,
France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Italy, Japan, Korea (Rep.
of), Liberia, Mauritania, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Romania, São Tomé and
Principé, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, Togo, United States |
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The area of competence of the Committee is defined as all
waters of the Atlantic bounded by a line drawn as follows: from a point on the high water
mark on the African coast at Cape Spartel (lat. 35o47'N, long. 5o55'W)
following the high water mark along the African coast to a point at Ponta da Moita Seca
(lat. 6o07'S, long. 12o16'E) along a rhumb line in a northwesterly
direction to a point on 6o south latitude and 12o west longitude,
thence due north to the Equator, thence due west to 30o west longitude, thence
due north to 5o north latitude, thence due west to 40o west
longitude, thence due north to 36o north latitude, thence due east to 6o
west longitude, thence along a rhumb line in a southeasterly direction to the original
point at Cape Spartel. This area mostly coincides with
FAO
Statistical Area 34. |
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The Committee covers all living marine resources within its
area of competence. |
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To promote programmes of development for the rational
utilization of fishery resources; to assist in establishing basis for regulatory measures;
to encourage training. |
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CECAF was
created in 1967 as a subsidiary body of the FAO (under Article VI
of the FAO Constitution), to promote the optimum utilization of
the living aquatic resources by the proper management and
development of the fisheries and fishing operations, and the
improvement of related processing and marketing activities in
conformity with the objectives of it's members. Since then, it has
played an important role in research and development support for
the many developing coastal States in the region. However, CECAF
was established without any regulatory function and its role in
fisheries management has increasingly been called into question in
recent years. Reform of the structure and role of CECAF has been
under consideration since the late 1980s and following lengthy
deliberations CECAF revised its structure in 1998. At the same
time, CECAF opted to maintain its status as a body under Article
VI of the FAO Constitution, although it agreed to progressively
work towards the upgrading of the body to a Commission level under
Article XIV of the FAO Constitution. It requested FAO to provide
the draft agreement for a possible Article XIV body and
information concerning the functioning of the IOTC and the GFCM
and, in particular, information concerning the financial
regulations and autonomous budget. This draft
was considered at the 16th Session in 2002, where it was again
decided to remain as an Article VI-type body.
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As CECAF was created under Article VI(2) of the FAO
constitution, the member States of the Committee are selected by the Director-General of
the FAO, from FAO member and associate member countries in Africa whose territory borders
the waters under the Committee's competence as well as other FAO member or associate
member nations fishing in the area, carrying out research or generally having a fisheries
interest thereof whose contribution to the work of the Committee the Director-General
deems to be essential or desirable. |
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The structure of CECAF has recently undergone a substantial
change. Prior to 1998, it was composed of the Committee itself and four subsidiary bodies,
in which much of the work was done: the Sub-Committees on Management of Resources within
the Limits of National Jurisdiction and on Fishery Development; and the Working Parties on
Resource Evaluation and Fishery Statistics. However, following a Resolution of the FAO
(Resolution 13/97), CECAF decided to abolish the subsidiary bodies and establish a simpler
structure consisting of the main Committee and a Scientific Sub-Committee. The Committee,
which is composed of all CECAF member States, remains the central body in CECAF and,
although it does not have any regulatory or enforcement functions, its terms of reference
are quite broad. Its potential activities extend to virtually all other aspects of fishery
development and management, including the collection and analysis of existing information,
establishing and strengthening statistical collection procedures, formulation of stock
assessments and recommendation of specific regulatory measures to member countries. The
Scientific Sub-Committee takes over much of the work of the old subsidiary bodies,
particularly the Working Parties, and exists to provide scientific advice to the
Committee. |
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CECAF does not have any regulatory power, although it can
adopt recommendations on management issues. For example, noteworthy efforts have been made
by CECAF to translate scientifically based conservation recommendations into legal
obligation with respect to adoption of harmonized rules in areas such as minimum mesh
sizes. However, since CECAF does not possess any regulatory or enforcement powers, such
recommendations are not binding on Committee members and have often failed due to a lack
of interest from policy makers.
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