Intersessional working group to develop a draft comprehensive shark CMM (IWG-Sharks)
At WCPFC14 (December 2017) the Commission agreed to form an intersessional working group to develop a draft comprehensive shark CMM for discussion at WCPFC15 (IWG-Sharks). The IWG-Sharks was to primarily work virtually and will be formed through the issuance of a Circular from the WCPFC Secretariat inviting all parties to nominate representatives to participate in the activities of the group. The IWG-Sharks was chaired by Mr Shingo Ota (Japan).
WCPFC14 agreed that the first phase of work will begin with the IWG Chair codifying WCPFC’s existing shark measures, taking into account comprehensiveness, and distributing this draft to participants by the end of February 2018. The IWG Chair will request that comments on the codified draft, as well as contributions on new elements, from IWG-Sharks participants be received by the end of March 2018. The IWG Chair will then compile these comments on the codified draft and new elements into a revised draft, requesting technical advice as necessary, and circulate it to IWG-Sharks participants on a timeline to be determined by the IWG Chair, giving due consideration to the timelines for SC14 and TCC14.
At WCPFC15 (December 2018), the output from the IWG-Sharks was presented, and further deliberations took place in the margins of WCPFC15 through a SWG on Shark CMMs. The Commission tasked TCC15 with considering the outputs of the shark intersessional working group and encouraged interested Members to submit proposals to TCC15.
Copies of the various drafts developed by the IWG-Sharks through 2018, and the draft that was prepared by the SWG Chair on Shark CMMs during WCPFC15, are provided in the below table. In January 2019, the SWG Chair on Shark CMMs from WCPFC15, has circulated a draft CMM on Sharks for discussion, this is also provided below:
