Strategy V: Addressing cross-cutting issues, such as labor, gender and climate change, where related to international fisheries

5. Strategy V: Addressing cross-cutting issues, such as labor, gender and

5.2 Monitoring and enhancing awareness on international fisheries-related issues

Issues related to trade of fish and fishery products have been immensely discussed at the international and regional levels during the past decades to secure the sustainable use of resources and promote people’s welfare and equitable benefit to stakeholders involved in fishery-related activities. As a result, a number of global policy frameworks and instruments including market-driven measures had been agreed upon and applied by relevant organizations and/or importing countries. The project “Assistance for Capacity Building in the Region to Address International Fish Trade-related Issues” is being implemented by the SEAFDEC Secretariat to help in monitoring the emerging international fish trade-related issues and requirements, and subsequently enhance the understanding and capacity of the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Member Countries in addressing such issues. Furthermore, the project also aims to facilitate the development of common views among the countries, and to make sure that such views and the Southeast Asian region’s specificity, especially with respect to the fisheries sector, is reflected during the discussions at appropriate regional and international fora. In 2018, SEAFDEC participated and provided technical inputs in international events that discuss international fisheries-related issues that might have implications in the development of fisheries of the region, namely:

• FAO Panel “Fighting IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud: Enhancing Traceability and Transparency through Strengthened Governance Frameworks (Organized by FAO on 11 March 2018 in Boston, USA)

• 14^th Meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on the CITES (organized by ASEAN on 20-22 March 2018 in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR)

• Regional Technical Seminar on Joining Forces in the Fisheries Sector: Promoting safety, decent work and the fight against IUU fishing (organized by FAO, Apostleship of the Sea, ILO and IMO on 21-22 March 2018 in Manila, Philippines)

• Consultative Forum on Regional Cooperation Against Human Trafficking, Labour Exploitation, and Slavery at Sea (organized by ILO on 27-28 March 2018 in Bali, Indonesia)

• CITES International Technical Workshop on Eels (Anguilla spp.) (organized by CITES on 18-20 April 2018 in London, UK)

• 7^th APFIC Regional Consultative Forum Meeting: Sustainable Development for Resilient Blue Growth of Fisheries and Aquaculture (organized by APFIC on 7-9 May 2018 in Cebu, Philippines)

• 35^th Session of Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (organized by APFIC on 11-13 May 2018 in Cebu, Philippines)

• 22^nd Session of Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (organized by IOTC on 21-24 May 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand)

• 15^th World Tuna Trade Conference and Exhibition (organized by INFOFISH on 28- 30 May 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand)

• 5^th Meeting of the Parties to the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (organized by SIOFA on 25-29 June 2018 in Phuket, Thailand)

• PSMA Part 6 Working Group on Requirements of Developing States (organized by FAO on 5-6 July 2018 (in Rome, Italy)

• 7^th Meeting of Regional Fishery Body Secretariats Network - (RSN-7) (organized by FAO on 7 and 13 July 2018 in Rome, Italy)

• 33^rd Session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) (organized by FAO on 9-13 July 2018 in Rome, Italy)

• Animal Committee Meeting of CITES (organized by CITES on 16-21 July 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland)

• Global Conference on Tenure and UserRights 2018: Achieving Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 (UserRights 2018) (organized by FAO on 10-14 September 2018 in Yeosu, Republic of Korea)

• 9^th GEF International Waters Conference “Sustaining International Waters Cooperation” (organized by GEF on 5-8 November 2018 in Morocco)

• 11^th RPOA-IUU Coordination Committee Meeting (organized by RPOA-IUU on 12- 15 November 2018 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

• 14^th Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM-14) and 7^th Ministerial Meetings of CTI-CFF (organized by CTI-CFF on 12-16 November 2018 in Manila, Philippines)

• 15^th Regular Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (organized by WCPFC on 9-14 December 2018 in Hawaii, USA)

SEAFDEC also organized the “Regional Technical Consultation on International Fisheries- related Issues” on 20-22 June 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand with the aim of generalizing the regional common/coordinated approaches by providing a platform for the Member Countries and other relevant key organizations to discuss important international fisheries- related issues, i.e. Combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing (Port State Measures; Global Record of Fishing Vessels); Small-scale and artisanal fisheries governance (Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Small-scale Fisheries; Labor and Working Conditions and Social Sustainability in Fisheries Value Chains in Fisheries Sectors); Fish trade-related issues (Catch Documentation Scheme (CDS); Biodiversity and CITES-related matters; Impact of Marine Protected Areas on Livelihoods; Food Safety and Quality, and Market Access;

Fisheries Subsidies; Inland fisheries; Sustainable aquaculture; Climate change and other environment-related issues; Global and regional ocean process; and Marking of fishing gears to reduce abandoned and lost gears. At the end of the RTC, actions that should be undertaken under the sub-regional and regional levels were identified, and the views of the RTC on the respective issues reflected at the 33^rd Session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) organized by FAO in July 2018, were compiled for further analysis by SEAFDEC.

The Regional Technical Consultation on International Fisheries-related Issues (20-22 June 2018, Bangkok, Thailand)

In addition to the discussion on international fisheries-related issues, the project also supported the implementation of the ASEAN Catch Documentation Scheme, which is a regionally adopted tool for enhancing the traceability of fish and fishery products.

Training and Kickoff Pilot Testing on the eACDS was conducted in Brunei Darussalam; while

introductory visits were made to Myanmar and Viet Nam for possible development in 2019 of key elements in the eACDS that are applicable for these countries.

6. Strategy VI: Empowering SEAFDEC to strengthen its roles in the region