Minister Sinon on overseas missions |10 June 2014

The Minister for Natural Resources Peter Sinon is currently on two overseas missions.

Minister Sinon will firstly attend the 31st Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in Rome today. Minister Sinon is also the chair of the Global Sustainable Fisheries Management and Biodiversity Conservation in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) programme, a side event of the COFI.

The ABNJ and related ecosystems are subject to impacts from a variety of sectors including shipping, deep-sea mining and fishing.

Seeking to generate a catalytic change, the Global Sustainable Fisheries Management and Biodiversity Conservation in the ABNJ programme – referred to as common oceans – was approved by GEF under the lead of the FAO and in close collaboration with UNEP and the World Bank, as well as other partners.

The side event will provide information on common oceans with a presentation on key issues affecting ABNJ. Programme partners will highlight their role and contributions. A moderated panel discussion will provide an opportunity to discuss challenges in implementing the programme, desired impacts and the way forward.

From June 16-17, upon invitation from the secretary of state of the United States of America, John Kerry, Minister Sinon will be at ‘Our Ocean Conference’ in Washington D.C. Our Ocean Conference will see 400 guests. Minister Sinon will be one of the main speakers on sustainable fisheries and the smartfish programme.
 
The smartfish programme aims to contribute to an increased level of social, economic and environmental development and deeper regional integration in the eastern-southern Africa and Indian Ocean Region (ESA-IO) through improved capacities for the sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources. It focuses on fisheries management; governance; effective monitoring, control and surveillance; fish trade; and food security.

Common Oceans aims to promote efficient and sustainable management of fisheries resources and biodiversity conservation in ABNJ to achieve an efficient and equitable system capable of generating and sustaining wealth and conserving the biodiversity upon which ocean health and human well-being depend. The programme focuses on tuna and other shared highly migratory stocks, deep-sea fisheries and associated biodiversity and contributes to achieving the global targets agreed in international fora.

The five-year programme is an innovative, unique and comprehensive initiative working with a wide range of partners. It is made of four projects which bring together governments, regional management bodies, civil society, the private sector, academia and industry to work towards ensuring the sustainable use and conservation of ABNJ biodiversity and ecosystem services.