Regional fisheries management: Virtual decision making in a pandemic

1. Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted the management of global fisheries. An analysis conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) revealed that 44% of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) believe that the pandemic will negatively impact the sustainable management of fish stocks [1]. Reasons included, inter alia, the lack of physical meetings and the decline of inspections and observer coverage [1].

It is highly likely that travel bans and border closures will continue throughout 2021, further impacting on the ability of RFMOs to implement their conservation and management responsibilities. For example, the Australian government’s budget forecast assumes that international travel will not resume until the end of 2021 [2].

This poses significant challenges to effective management, particularly in transboundary fisheries that require complex and regular negotiations to adopt, implement and monitor conservation and management measures. This commentary summarizes the different responses of RFMOs and Regional Organizations towards the global COVID-19 pandemic.

2. RFMO responses

Travel restrictions and border closures have stopped face-to-face meetings. Since the beginning of the pandemic, many meetings have been postponed, cancelled or held online through platforms such as Zoom. Out of 13 RFMOs and Regional Organisations surveyed, only one cancelled its annual meeting, while three postponed to a later date. As represented in Table 1, most of the organizations are either conducting meetings via video conference or are progressing via online correspondence. However, moving meetings online constrains the ability of member states to work effectively on important issues and negotiate contentious decisions.

Online meetings are mostly limited to a few hours per day, with the rest of the discussions occurring in online discussion platforms. Because of these time constraints, agendas are reduced to the most important topics [1]. Concerns have also been raised around the capacity of members to properly analyse certain information in the online meeting format, resulting in the deferral of important decisions. For example, the members of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission have agreed to not address complicated topics and decided that measures that will expire in 2020 will be extended until 2021 [4].

Members of RFMOs are also concerned with confidentiality issues and the limitation of diplomatic exchange on online platforms [5]. Many delegations have also expressed strong concerns about internet bandwidth, connectivity stability and technical constraints restricting their ability to participate in online meetings [6]. Such technical issues are especially prevalent in developing countries and further limit their ability to effectively engage in important discussions.

The scheduling of virtual meetings can be difficult due to the global membership of some RFMOs. Most delegations appear to support the scheduling of virtual meetings during the business hours of the secretariat, located in the region where the fishery is located (see Fig. 1). Applied consistently, this secretariat scheduling approach ensures fairness as it should enable most adjacent coastal States to participate during business hours and minimises impacts on distant water fishing States that are party to multiple RFMOs.

There is no apparent need for RFMOs to amend their rules of procedure to accommodate online meetings, although in some cases it may be useful to clarify procedures and to increase options for electronic decision-making. For example, the IOTC sought confirmation from their members concerning the conduct of online meetings and adapted Rules of Procedure. RFMO conventions typically require at least an annual commission meeting and may specify that principles of “cost-effectiveness” apply regarding the “frequency, duration and scheduling” of meetings. However, there is nothing in the typical wording that would preclude a virtual (online) meeting using a video-conferencing application or a meeting via correspondence. Decision-making by consensus and by vote can both be accommodated in an online meeting format. If desirable, voting by show of hands is able to be substituted with a roll-call in a number of the organizations surveyed (WCPFC, SPRFMO, CCAMLR).

Travel restrictions and border closures also impact on the ability of States and RFMOs to implement monitoring, control and surveillance programmes. Many countries have closed their ports, which has reduced the number of port inspections [5], while requirements to carry fisheries observers have been temporarily suspended in many fisheries due to logistical difficulties and health and safety concerns [5]. In the WCPFC, the requirements for at-sea transhipment observers and purse seine observers has been suspended until 15th of February 2021 [7]. The IOTC had also suspended their observer program until further notice.

On a positive note, virtual meetings may improve accessibility for observers, and for smaller delegations with limited budgets, thereby increasing the transparency of meetings. However anecdotal evidence suggests that participants still tend to prefer meeting face-to-face. It is notable that most of the surveyed organizations are still intending to resume face-to-face meeting when it is safe to do so.

3. Conclusion

Our study finds that most of the organisations that are holding virtual meetings are holding these meetings during the business hours of the secretariat. The two that are not holding meetings during secretariat are CCAMLR, which is circumpolar and is holding meetings outside secretariat business hours due to its 24 h coverage, and SPRFMO, which is rotating meetings during different times. While most RFMOS are now conducting virtual meetings or preparing to, this virtual format limits the ability of RFMOs to effectively discuss and negotiate important issues concerning sustainable fisheries management. Some organizations have already made urgent decisions, but to continue working towards sustainably managed fish stocks, RFMOs need to develop new decision-making procedures that can work effectively in the ongoing COVID-normal context that is likely to continue into 2022 and potentially beyond.

Declaration of Interest

None.