Uruguay publishes its revised FAO National Plan of Action – Seabirds

The International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries (IPOA-Seabirds) was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1998.  The plan encourages all FAO member countries to implement their own National Plans of Action (NPOA-Seabirds).

In terms of the IPOA-Seabirds, countries first assess the seabird by-catch problem within their fisheries and/or within their coastal waters.  If a bycatch problem is found to exist, each country should then develop and implement its own National Plan of Action (NPOA-Seabirds), based on the recommendations listed in the IPOA-Seabirds.

So far, fifteen countries and political entities have adopted their NPOA-Seabirds (click here), including Uruguay which has now published a revised version of its original 2006 plan.

Uruguay's 2015 NPOA-Seabirds

A Black-browed Albatross gets caught on a longline off Uruguay, photograph by Marin Abreu

In the same booklet, Uruguay also includes the text of its NPOA-Sharks, gives a description of Uruguayan fisheries and sets out the legal framework for the implementation of NPOAs.

Of the 13 Parties to ACAP six (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, South Africa and Uruguay) have produced NPOA-seabirds or allied documents, and three others (France, Spain and the United Kingdom) are covered by an NPOA-Seabirds produced by the European Union.  Non-Party range states and entities that have produced NPOA-Seabirds include Canada, Chinese Taipei, Japan and the United States of America, with Namibia’s plan expected to be formally adopted in the near future.

With thanks to Sebastián Jiménez for information and Martin Abreu for the photograph.

References:

Domingo, A., Jimenéz, S. & Passadore, A. 2007.  Plan de Acción Nacional para Reducir la Captura Incidental de Aves Marinas en las Pesquerías Uruguayas.  Montevideo: Dirreción Nacional de Recurcos Acuáticos.  75 pp.

Jiménez, S., Pin, O. & Domingo, A. 2015. Plan de Acción Nacional para Reducir la Captura Incidental de Aves Marinas en las Pesquerías Uruguayas, 2015.  In: Domingo, A., Forselledo, R. & Jiménez, S. (Eds).  Revisión de Planes de Acción Nacional para la Conservación de Aves Marinas y Condrictios en las Pesquerías Uruguayas.  Montevideo: Dirección Nacional de Recursos Acuáticos.  pp. 11-79.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 06 September 2015