May 16, 2024 — The 133rd Forum Fisheries Committee Officials Annual Meeting was held in Nauru from May 6-10, 2024. Of special interest to American Samoa, the Committee discussed the Forum Fisheries Agency’s (FFA) ongoing effort to fight Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and endorsed a new monitoring, control and surveillance strategy – the Regional Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance Strategy (RMCSS) for 2024-2029.
The meeting brought together fisheries officials from the 17 Members of the Pacific Islands FFA, as well as observers from regional and international organizations, to deliberate and agree on ways forward for Pacific tuna fisheries.
The weeklong meeting involved the endorsements of strategic and implementation plans by FFA, proposal of new initiatives, as well as resolving the challenges Members face in their fisheries work, according to an FAA press release.
Among other key endorsements made by the Committee include the Information Management Strategy, designed to strengthen the data systems and improve regional information coordination, and the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Strategy.
These are part of FFA’s ongoing efforts to integrate inclusive principles into fisheries management and the continued improvement of social benefits from Members’ tuna fisheries.