Under the leadership of the EU, the Organisation put in place all necessary tools to ensure its efficient functioning, paved the way for a proper Compliance and Monitoring system and adopted binding measures on Jack Mackerel, based on scientific advice.

The European Commission welcomes the clear institutional framework which has been put in place; this will allow focusing and progressing on future priorities, notably in the scientific and compliance areas where clear roadmaps for future work have been adopted under the impulse of the EU. The European Commission is pleased that a binding measure for the management of the Jack Mackerel stocks has been adopted and is strongly committed to continue working in the future to establish more ambitious and precautionary measures to allow for a fast recovery of the stocks. Finally, the Commission welcomes the support to the measures proposed by the EU, notably on IUU.

The Commission of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) held its 1st annual meeting from 28 January to 1 February in Auckland, New Zealand. Built around a proposal by the EU, the SPRFMO adopted a binding Conservation and Management Measure (CMM) for Jack Mackerel, which is a good departure point for future work on this sensitive area. The Commission considers that the proposed TAC of 360.000 tonnes, in line with scientific advice, will allow for a recovery of the stock. However, a more precautionary approach, as suggested by the EU, would have allowed for a quicker recovery of the stock. The Commission laments the fact that it was not possible to include in the measure all Coastal States with an interest in the Jack Mackerel fishing in the region.
 
The European Commission also welcomes the support for its proposals on the IUU listing and for granting Cooperating non-Contracting Party status to those nations who are not yet members of the Convention. These measures will provide SPRFMO with a useful tool in the fight against IUU and will improve the efficiency of the Organisation. Clear priorities for the future work of the Scientific Committee and the Compliance and Technical Committee were adopted at the initiative of the European Commission.

Background

The current signatories to the SPRFMO Convention are Australia, Chile, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Ecuador, the European Union, Faroe Islands, France, Korea, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, Solomon Islands, Chinese Taipei, Tonga, the United States of America and Vanuatu.

The EU member states with fishing interests in the area are Poland, the Netherlands, Germany and Lithuania.