Report of the eleventh meeting of the RECOFI Working Group on Fisheries Management, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, 19-21 February 2019

Report of the eleventh meeting of the RECOFI Working Group on Fisheries Management, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, 19-21 February 2019

Copyright licence

Year of publication 2019

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 45 p.

Publisher FAO ;

Category Technical report

ISBN 978-92-5-131410-4

Series title FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Report

Series number No. 1257

Edition 1

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) The eleventh meeting of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) Working Group on Fisheries Management (WGFM) was held in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, from 19 to 21 February 2019. The Meeting was convened by RECOFI and FAO and attended by 12 participants from the following seven RECOFI member countries: Iraq, Iran (IR), Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE in addition to the FAO Secretariat and one invited expert. The meeting included participation from the Convention on Migratory Species-United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/CMS) Secretariat. The WGFM welcomed the entry into force of the MoU between ROPME and FAO/RECOFI, stressing the importance of collective interests and common mandates of the two parties to the MoU. IUU fishing was found a major issue affecting the sustainable exploitation and conservation of marine fishery resources. There was an agreement that IUU fishing-related issues, on the many occasions, were brought to the attention of the WGFM. The WGFM welcomed the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication and acknowledged the great deal of global effort devoted to the development the SSF Guidelines. The WGFM acknowledged the benefits of developing FIRMS Marine Resources of regional relevance for the RECOFI region and recommended the initiation of the process focusing on Spanish mackerel. It was proposed that FAO could provide further support in developing specific case studies using the EAF approach in the RECOFI Area. Participants provided updates of the current work ongoing at the national level with regards to the RECOFI priority species, and discussed data collection challenges. The Meeting noted the difficulties in reporting and sourcing updated data and agreed on freezing the number of current RECOFI priority species. The Terms of Reference for the FIRMS Regional Focal Point were approved. The Meeting was informed that at its ninth session (2017) the Commission was of the opinion that it did not have enough background information about splitting some FAO sub-areas and requested the WGFM to re-consider the proposal to split FAO sub-area 51.3 into divisions 51.3.1. Findings and recommendations of the Workshop on Regional Joint Assessment of Kingfish (Scomberomorus commerson), which was held in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman on 17-18 February 2019 were discussed. The results reveal that the stock appears to be in an overexploitation status with the current fishing mortality and landings exceeding the levels required to exploit the stock at MSY. The WGFM adopted the proposed recommendations of the workshop with certain modifications. The RECOFI Secretariat was asked to submit these recommendations to the tenth Session of the Commission.

Language English

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

Technical report

Report of the fourth meeting of the RECOFI Working Group on Fisheries Management. Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, 3-5 October 2010. 2010

Also available in:

No results found.

This document contains the report of the fourth meeting of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) Working Group on Fisheries Management (WGFM), which was held in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, from 3 to 5 October 2010. The Working Group considered and made decisions on matters concerning the Programme of Work and Budget for the 2011¿12 biennium for the WGFM including a review of the regional strategy and priorities for regional fisheries management, the outcome of the Special Meeting on R ECOFI Consolidation and Development that took place at FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy, in May 2010, and stock status reporting in support of long-term sustainable fisheries management in the RECOFI region. Significantly, the WGFM adopted a Recommendation on Minimum Data Reporting in the RECOFI Area. This is the first Recommendation adopted by the WGFM. If accepted by RECOFI, it will become binding on Members of the Commission. The WGFM also considered a proposal by the Sultanate of Oman in relati on to a proposal for a feasibility study to review the development of a regional database on violations, establish a list of vessels authorized to fish by RECOFI Members and promote the establishment of a regional fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance information exchange scheme. Finally, the WGFM reviewed the outcomes of the Tripartite Meeting on Fisheries Management Cooperation in the Northern Area of RECOFI that was held at FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy, in May 2010, and the FAO/INFO SAMAK Seminar on Fish Trade and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing in the Near East and North Africa that took place in Agadir, Morocco, in June 2010. Other important decisions made by the WGFM included the election of a new Chairperson, the agreement to propose to the Commission that the WGFM meet annually rather than on a biennial basis and that a special meeting of the Working Group be convened immediately prior to the May 2011 session of the Commission.
Technical report

Report of the thirteenth meeting of the RECOFI Working Group on Fisheries Management, Virtual meeting, 9–10 October 2023 2025

Also available in:

No results found.

The thirteenth meeting of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) Working Group on Fisheries Management (WGFM) was held from 9 to 10 October 2023, virtually. The meeting was convened by RECOFI and FAO and attended by 30 participants from all eight RECOFI member countries: Kingdom of Bahrain, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Iraq, State of Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman, State of Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The WGFM discussed a number of matters, including illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, climate change and fisheries management in RECOFI, progress on the Recommendation RECOFI/6/2011/1 Minimum Data Reporting in the RECOFI area as well as progress on the RECOFI Recommendation (RECOFI/X/2019/1) on the Assessment and Management of Kingfish (Scomberomorus commerson) stocks in the RECOFI Area. Further. The outcomes of the RECOFI Workshop series: minimum data reporting regional database, RECOFI-FIRMS Stocks and fisheries inventories, and UN Sustainable Development Goals indicator 14.4.1: proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels were also presented. The meeting agreed on a workplan proposal to be submitted to the upcoming twelfth session of RECOFI.
Technical report

Report of the Twelfth Meeting of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) Working Group on Fisheries Management
Virtual meeting, 4-5 October 2021
2023

Also available in:

No results found.

The twelfth meeting of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) Working Group on Fisheries Management (WGFM) was held virtually, from 4 to 5 October 2021. The meeting was convened by RECOFI and FAO and attended by 36 participants from the following seven RECOFI member countries: Iraq, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates in addition to the FAO Secretariat. Bahrain did not attend. The meeting agreed with the recommendations from the workshop on Minimum Data Reporting (MDR) in July and noted that in terms of reviewing and reassessing the current MDR indicators, information could be collected using the previously noted tables on current work on RECOFI priority species, in particular the information regarding management measures and targeted fisheries. The WGFM noted the importance of having a variety of expertise providing input to FIRMS; it was acknowledged that while the Focal Point may not be an expert in all areas, they should consult with colleagues with relevant expertise as needed. Additionally, the meeting recognized it could be useful for the Focal Point and Alternate Focal Point to have complementary expertise to facilitate all the needed information. The meeting noted the challenge of reporting a stock as national or shared, due to it not being known definitively for each species. This has resulted in some inconsistencies in reporting across RECOFI countries on both RECOFI Priority Species as well as other species commonly reported by RECOFI member countries on the SDG 14.4.1 questionnaire. The meeting noted that RECOFI could play a role by working with member countries to jointly develop and complete a table on certain stocks which would assist member Countries in filling out the SDG 14.4.1 questionnaire. The WGFM is proposing a template which, once adopted by the Commission, will be used by the Secretariat to fill out according to the data already submitted by four RECOFI Countries which submitted their SDG14.4.1 questionnaire as part of the first inquiry launched by FAO in November 2019. The completed table would then be recirculated to RECOFI member countries in the endeavour to facilitate consistency in reporting when completing future versions of the SDG 14.4.1 Questionnaire. Countries which have not yet reported on the SDG14.4.1 questionnaire will be invited to provide inputs to that table. The WGFM acknowledged the recommendations of the workshop and reaffirmed the request to receive the SDG 14.4.1 questionnaire in Arabic.