The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission is meeting this week and improved seabird mitigation for small vessels is on the agenda

The Eleventh Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) is being held this week in the Faleata Sports Complex, Apia, Samoa.  Click here for the meeting’s agenda.

A change proposed by the USA (WCPFC11-2014-DP01) to the current Conservation and Management Measure for Mitigating Impacts of Fishing on Seabirds (CMM 2012-07) aims to remove the current exemption for vessels less than 24 m in length in the North Pacific from the requirement to use seabird bycatch mitigation measures in areas north of 23° North latitude from 1 January 2017.

A small North Pacific longliner trails a bird-scaring line, photograph by Ed Melvin

Reference:

Unites States of America 2014.  Revisions to CMM 2012-07 Conservation and Management Measure to Mitigate the Impact of Fishing for Highly Migratory Fish Stocks on Seabirds.  WCPFC11-2014-DP01. 7 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 02 December 2104