Information Papers

IP 1 - Meeting Arrangements     153Ko

IP 2 - FAME 2013 draft Work Plan     380Ko

IP 3 - Draft SPC Regional Aquaculture Strategy     850Ko

IP 4 - Proceedings of the Workshop on "Priority adaptations to climate change for Pacific fisheries and aquaculture", 5–8 June 2012     6.8Mo

IP 5 - EU market access regulatory compliance for Pacific Island countries and territories - by F. Blaha      150ko

IP 6 - Sea cucumber fisheries: global analysis of stocks, management measures and drivers of overfishing - by S. Purcell et al.   (Link to Abstract)

IP 7 - Outcomes of the SPC Informal Consultation with Heads of Fisheries, Noumea 4th June 2012      150ko

IP 8 - Project update: Quantifying range contraction in Pacific pelagics      3.7Mo

SciCOFish Third Steering Committee Meeting (March 2013)

Report of the second Steering Committee of the EU-funded SciCOFish project     725ko

Monitoring Report of the EU-funded SciCOFish project - 2012     20ko

Year 3 Progress Report and Year 4 Work Plan for the EU-funded SciCOFish project     1.8Mo

SPC/FFA Consultation on the GEF "Implementation of Global and Regional Oceanic Fisheries Conventions and Related Instruments in the Pacific Small Island Developing States (OFMP2)" project (March 2013)

Summary of discussions     740ko

Link to the presentations made during the Consultation     (click here)

Draft Programme     128ko

Project identification form (PIF) and progress to date     511ko

OFMP II proposed project structure     218ko

OFMP II indicative detailed budget     190ko

OFMP II project management     184ko

OFMP II co-financing     160ko

Information about SPC's Heads of Fisheries Meetings

The SPC Heads of Fisheries Meeting is part of SPC's corporate governance structure. SPC's main governing councils, the biennial Conference of the Pacific Community and the annual Committee of Representatives of Governments and Administrations (CRGA), are the ultimate decision-making bodies for the organisation and decide the strategic direction, annual work-programme and budget. However, SPC is large compared to other Pacific Island regional organisations, and its work-programme covers a number of different sectors. CRGA obtains advice from several sectoral specialist councils, and the Heads of Fisheries meeting is one of these.

The Heads of Fisheries meeting covers both of SPC's Fisheries Programmes: Oceanic and Coastal. It has historically placed more emphasis on Coastal Fisheries Programme (CFP) business than the Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP) because the work of the OFP is also guided by several other regional meetings involving member countries, including the Scientific Committee for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Forum Fisheries Committee. However, HoF is the conduit through which any consensus formal recommendations of SPC member country fisheries specialists reach the SPC CRGA, which itself governs the entire work programme, including both OFP and CFP.

HoF also remains the only opportunity for Pacific Island fisheries heads to generally discuss domestic and reef fisheries issues and problems together, and to provide essential feedback to the direction of the SPC Coastal Fisheries Programme. Although the CFP convenes occasional specialist meetings, such as recent meetings on coastal fisheries management and aquaculture, these are to advise on special topics, and only take place at irregular intervals. The Heads of Fisheries meeting is intended to cover the entire range of work of national and territorial fisheries administrations. It may even discuss issues outside the current range of the SPC work-programme, and this "big-picture" view of fisheries is essential for longer-term planning and is also of considerable assistance to other agencies, regional NGOs and donors interested in national as well as regional issues.