WCPFC Management Objectives Workshop 2

Cairns Convention Centre (http://www.cairnsconvention.com.au/ )

Led by the same expert panel and following on from the first WCPFC Management Objectives Workshop (MOW) in Manila, Philippines in November 2012   (Report: http://www.wcpfc.int/node/3560), the second workshop, MOW2, will build on the outcomes of the first, to identify and refine potential target reference points to present at WCPFC 10 which convenes three days later.

The first MOW provided an opportunity for participants to consider more fully the importance of a fisheries management framework for the WCPO, and focused primarily on developing a list of reasonable and considered fishery management objectives to inform the Commission and guide the expert panel. The panel met again in May 2013 to draft a consultative document (strawman), which elicited feedback from WCPFC Committees, regional bodies and stakeholders. Participants at MOW2 will have an opportunity to review the strawman which may be refined before submission with external comments to WCPFC 10. MOW2 will focus on four topics:

• Target  MEY-based reference points and HCRs for skipjack (purse seine fishery)
• Target MEY-based reference points for albacore  (southern longline fishery)
• Yellowfin: spatial issues and fishery interactions/ trade-offs
• To be announced

Discussion will be informed by information papers that are being prepared by SPC,  which will be available prior to the workshop. The deadline for submissionn of papers is 14th November 2013.