From 22 to 24 April 2024, the RPOA-IUU secretariat was invited to the opening ceremony of Fisheries MCS Training 2024 and delivered presentation about ‘Regional Illegal, Unreported, and Unreported Fishing (IUUF) challenges in Nha Trang, Viet Nam. Fisheries MCS Training Course is specifically designed for gaining technical and theoretical fisheries officer’s capacity in advancing MCS measures for addressing IUU fishing eradication challenges in Southeast Asia and one of Australia’s Combatting IUU fishing program implementation.
This year’s training course marks the second cohort, following the successful conclusion of the initial training in 2023. During the opening, the RPOA-IUU secretariat extended appreciation to the RPOA-IUU Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance (MCS) sub-regional group for its contribution in the student selection process and wished that the cooperation among RPOA-IUU MCS sub-regional group remains sustained. The countries were also requested for its proactive engagement in each program component of Australia’s Combatting IUU Fishing which will run for 5 years.
To address regional IUU fishing challenges, the RPOA-IUU secretariat suggested two distinct approaches for IUU fishing eradication challenges. The first approach is physical operation supported by technology-assisted tools like sea and air patrol, direct fisheries surveillance, and observers program. On the other hand, the soft approach covers the utilization of advanced technology, such as self-reporting systems, electronic monitoring programs, vessel monitoring systems, and integrated surveillance systems.
It was also informed that in this year, the RPOA-IUU will focus on several emerging global issues. These activities aim to equip the country in handling this current challenges, focusing on the area of data-sharing, fisheries intelligence, decent work on fishing vessels and seafood industry, and market measures and traceability.
