On Thursday 1 August, the European Commission welcomed the measures taken by the parties to the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA). This agreement entered into force in June 2012.
The sixth meeting of the parties to the SIOFA Agreement held recently in Mauritius strengthened the regulatory framework of this relatively new organization by adopting: - new management measures for orange roughy, alfonsino and toothfish, based on proposals from the European Union and Australia: - adoption of the EU-cosponsored High Seas Boarding and Inspection Procedures, expected to significantly improve SIOFA’s capacity to monitor regional fishing activities effectively. - prohibition of direct shark fishing and measures to mitigate seabird capture
The organisation also committed itself to the future development of a vessel monitoring system; a framework for new and exploratory fisheries, and a framework for scientific research.
SIOFA is a regional fisheries management organization with the objective of conserving and managing non-tuna stocks in the southern Indian Ocean area of the high seas. The parties to the agreement are the following nine parties: Australia, Cook Islands, France, Japan, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Korea, EU and Thailand. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)