Sir John Kaputin, right, when opening the meeting on Tuesday 2 June, 2009.

First Meeting of the ACP Ministers in Charge of Fisheries

ACP House, Brussels Belgium

Technical Meeting

Statement By Sir John Kaputin

Secretary General, ACP Group of States Secretariat

2 June 2009

Your Excellencies

Senior Officials

Guest Speakers

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

I am highly delighted to welcome you all to the first meeting of the ACP Ministers in Charge of Fisheries, and particularly to this first segment of the technical meeting of Senior Officials.

In recognition to the paramount importance of fisheries to the economies of ACP countries, the 87th Session of the ACP Council of Ministers in Addis Ababa in 2008 adopted a resolution on Fisheries which called for a first meeting of ACP Ministers in charge of fisheries to be convened in 2009. One of the main objectives for that meeting was the setting up of a mechanism for ministerial coordination and cooperation on fisheries.

Over two thirds of global capture fisheries output is now originating from developing countries, and the value of globally traded fisheries products is reaching 150 billion USD, when aquaculture is included. While the potential of fisheries and aquaculture to drive many of our national economies is enormous, so are the looming dangers of environmental degradation, resource overexploitation, stock declines, stock collapses, and the negative impacts our economies would have to stomach as a result of this.

Your deliberations today and tomorrow will therefore also address generic fisheries governance issues, IUU fishing, fishing overcapacity, and the performance of fisheries management frameworks. The ACP need to be clear about the fact that we are not looking at fisheries, a natural renewable resource, from the single perspective of maximizing output, maximizing market opportunities, and maximizing foreign exchange earnings. We are aware of the fact that potentials can only be harnessed and maintained under scenarios of sustainable and responsible fisheries governance, and therefore we have to discuss it, and address it as a group. This meeting shall therefore also serve as a venue for reflection and self-assessment. You shall ask yourselves the question: “What can we do, to ensure that the stewardship of our very own national and internationally shared fisheries resources is commensurate with the challenges of an ever-expanding international crisis in world fisheries?” It is my hope that one of the very clear and strong messages that will emerge from this meeting is that we, as individual ACP countries, bear the full responsibility for the sustainable and responsible management of our national fisheries resources, not our partners in the industrialized world. While our partners might be helping us with putting fuel in our tank, we have got to be sitting behind the steering wheel.

The meeting will also delve into issues related to the all important, and often overpowering foreign market access challenges for our fisheries products, and the development of our national fisheries economies. These issues are crucially important with regards to our partnership with the European Union. Discussion on these subjects will guide ACP countries in addressing the various EU regulatory frameworks in the future, amongst other things.

Since time is limited and you have a busy schedule ahead, I would like to reiterate the confidence of the ACP Group in the results that will be derived from your deliberations. The output from this technical session will come in the form of a draft resolution. This draft will serve as the substrate for the final Ministerial Resolution. Apart from defining the scope and nature of the Ministerial Mechanism on Fisheries, the Ministerial Resolution will also serve as a commonly shared and endorsed road map for the ACP Ministerial Mechanism on Fisheries and individual ACP countries, outlining the critical challenges to address in our fisheries in the coming months and years.

It is my hope, that through our collective effort and action – which is taking root in this room and on this day – the governance of fisheries in our countries will improve over time, hand in hand with the sustainable growth of social and economic benefits derived from fisheries.

I wish you a fruitful deliberation.

Thank you.