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| International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks | ||||||
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Link
to text of agreement
Status of agreement
| Basic information |
| Date of adoption | 19 February 1999 |
| Place of adoption | Rome, Italy |
| Entry into force | n/a |
| Authentic text(s) | English |
| Summary of instrument |
Following a technical working group meeting in Tokyo in April 1998 and a preparatory meeting in July 1998, at FAO in Rome, a Technical Consultation took place in October to discuss the Management of Fishing Capacity, Shark Fisheries and Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries. The meeting considered and finalized the texts of International Plans of Action (IPOA) for sharks and seabirds, and agreed Elements of an International Instrument for the Management of Fishing Capacity. These documents were submitted for endorsement by FAO's Committee on Fisheries in February 1999 and adoption by the FAO Conference in November 2000.
The IPOA for the Conservation and Management of Sharks consists of an introduction, guiding principles, framework, objective, procedures for implementation (consistent with the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing), and Appendices listing the suggested contents of a Shark-Plan and a Shark Assessment Report. The stated objective of the IPOA is “to ensure the conservation and management of sharks and their long-term sustainable use”. The introduction notes the increased effort and catch in shark fisheries over the past few decades and that sharks are particularly vulnerable to overfishing. It notes that the current state of knowledge of sharks and shark fishery practices causes problems in the conservation and management of sharks due to the lack of available catch, effort, landings and trade data, as well as limited information on biological parameters and difficulties with species identification.
The IPOA encourages States to assess the state of shark stocks within their EEZs and those fished on the high seas. States should then determine if there is a need for them to develop a National Plan of Action for conservation and management of shark stocks. National plans are called for if directed shark fisheries exist, and/or if sharks are regularly caught in non-target fisheries. If, after their initial assessment, a State determines there is no need for a national plan, it should review that decision regularly, but as a minimum collect data on catch, landings and trade.
States are asked to report to FAO on the assessment conducted, and to present biennially (when reporting under the Code of Conduct) a brief summary of their implementation of national plans or the results of the assessment that concluded no plan was needed. This information will be made available to all concerned States. States are also encouraged to cooperate and where appropriate develop regional shark plans through regional and sub-regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements, and other forms of cooperation. The FAO Secretariat is directed to support the implementation of the IPOA, including the preparation and implementation of national plans by States, through technical assistance projects.
| Further information and references |
- Internet sources
- Bibliographic references
FAO, Report of the FAO Technical Working Group on the Conservation and Management of Sharks, Tokyo, Japan, 23-27 April 1998, FAO Fisheries Report No. 583 FAO, Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries - Fisheries Management - 4 Suppl. 1 - 1. Conservation and Management of Sharks, (Rome: FAO, 2000) [View Text]
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