| James Kon |
BRUNEI Darussalam is committed in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities and has launched a number of initiatives to effectively protect and sustain its fishery resources and marine environment, according to a senior official.
Brunei Darussalam has its own IUU fishing challenges posed either by local or foreign encroachment. There have been cases of local fishermen operating in fishing zones not assigned to them and fishing in the demarcated safety zones of oil and gas exploration areas using illegal gears and methods as well as illegal foreign encroachments in Brunei waters. Since 2009, a total of 145 illegal cases have been discovered with 13 arrests recorded, Haji Khairuddin bin Haji Abdul Hamid, Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism said.
“It is imperative that Brunei and other countries in the region fight together as a group to mitigate this growing problem,” he said in his remarks as the guest of honour yesterday at the 8th coordination committee meeting on the Regional Plan of Action (RPOA) to promote responsible fishing practices including combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the Southeast Asia region.
According to Haji Khairuddin, Brunei’s initiatives in combating IUU fishing activities include the declaration of marine protected areas and national plan of action to combat IUU fishing in 2011, the declaration of banning of catching of sharks and importation of any of its products in 2013 and the launch of the Coral Conservation, Awareness, Rehabilitation and Enrichment (CARE) programme to protect the coral reefs in Brunei Darussalam.
Haji Khairuddin bin Haji Abdul Hamid, Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism in a group photo with the delegates for the 8th Coordination Committee meeting on Regional Plan of Action (RPOA). – JAMES KON
He hoped that the meeting would provide a good platform to harmonise the initiatives in containing the damaging impacts of IUU fishing on the marine environment.
The acting permanent secretary also felt that the development of a work plan for 2015-2016 as well as the revisiting of the 2014-2015 work plan, both would be discussed in the meeting, are crucial in identifying areas that require more efforts to progress such as cooperation between nations within the region to move forward.
Held at The Rizqun International Hotel from November 17 to 19, the meeting was yesterday co-chaired by Abdul Halidi bin Mohd Salleh, Acting Director of Fisheries and Kieran Macdonell of Australia.
Also in attendance were Abdur Rouf Sam, the RPOA secretariat coordinator with member countries including representatives from Brunei Darussalam as well as advisory bodies such as Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre and observers from various organisations like United States Agency for International Development-Regional Development Mission for Asia, Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Officer of Law Enforcement and Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
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