The International Network for the Cooperation and Coordination of Fisheries-Related Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Activities
The riches found in the world's oceans are increasingly under siege from poachers and those who plunder living marine environments. Large-scale illegal harvests of fish and despoliation of marine resources are widely recognized as serious problems and the focus of many existing international agreements. Improving compliance with existing conservation standards is complicated by sophisticated technologies employed by violators and high profit potential from illegal trafficking. The International Network for the Cooperation and Coordination of Fisheries-Related Monitoring Control and Surveillance Network (MCS Network), is one of the newest cooperative efforts where nations are joining their resources to increase their effectiveness in enforcing conservation measures designed to protect world fisheries and ecosystems.
The goals of the Network include improving the efficiency and effectiveness of fisheries-related MCS activities through enhanced cooperation, coordination, information collection and exchange among national organisations/institutions responsible for fisheries-related MCS.
MCS professionals have long needed a mechanism for easy access to each other and readily available information. The MCS Network provides these capabilities.
The MCS Network is intended to give governmental agencies support in meeting national fisheries MCS responsibilities as well as international and regional commitments in relation to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing, the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement and the recently concluded, FAO-sponsored, International Plan of Action to combat Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported Fishing (IUU/IPOA).
The Network's development is guided by a group of enforcement and compliance professionals, with representatives from all regions of the world. In addition, a pilot program for a Network Web site has been successfully developed and is now fully functional. It contains contact information for MCS staff from each member country and web-linked data on vessels, laws, permits, authorizations and other information from several members of the Executive Committee as well as information about regional and international fisheries organizations. The Web site address is: http://imcsnet.org.
The Network is designed to be useful for multiple disciplines, including traditional law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, lawyers, inspectors, coast guard, scientists and program specialists and others who work for their governments in the cause of protecting marine ecosystems.
The United States National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Law Enforcement is currently further developing the Web site and serving as its administrator. Chile holds the position as Executive Secretariat for the Network.
Participation in the MCS Network is voluntary. There are no obligations on members other than to support the objectives of the MCS Network through participation within their respective capacities. To the extent possible under national laws and resource availability, all members are encouraged to provide their own information on vessels, laws, and so forth to the Web site. There is no cost for listing on the Web site or for becoming a member other than each state funding their own level of participation. The Committee encourages the widest possible participation of countries in the Network for the purpose of maximizing the value of the Network to members.
Creation of the MCS Network flowed from the initiative of Chile in sponsoring the Santiago Declaration at the International Conference on Monitoring, Control and Fishing Surveillance held in Santiago, Chile, in January 2000. This was followed by further discussions on the margins in Rome at the IUU/IPOA negotiations in October, 2000. The Executive Committee was first officially convened in January, 2001 in Key Largo, Florida. Subsequent meetings were held in Hobart, Tasmania in October, 2001, and in Auckland, New Zealand in May 2002.
The Executive Committee of the Network is made up of governmental fisheries MCS organisations from:
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Chile
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Peru
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United States of America
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the European Commission
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Australia
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Canada
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New Zealand
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Norway
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Forum Fisheries Association
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the FAO (as observer)
The Network has been in existence a little over one year. This exposure at the World Summit for Sustainable Development is designed to promote additional membership.
