IOTC Meets in Colombo

Fifteenth Session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) will be held in Colombo from 19-22 March 2011, preceded by the 8th Session of the Compliance Committee which is being held from March 14th to March 16th 2011.

The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) is an inter-governmental organization established under Article 14 of the FAO constitution.  It is mandated to manage tuna and tuna-like species in the Indian Ocean and adjacent seas.  The objective of the Commission is to promote cooperation among its members with a view to ensuring, through appropriate management, the conservation and optimum utilization of stocks covered by this Agreement and encouraging sustainable development of fisheries based on such stocks, said the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Development Rajitha Senarathne at a Press Conference held at the Department of Government Information a little while ago.

The meeting is held in Colombo for the first time on the initiative of the  Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Development Rajitha Senaratne.

The 5 day meeting, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratne and will be attended by nearly 250 delegates and Observers from nearly 35 countries in the Indian Ocean Region and beyond.  Representatives  from major Distant Water Fishing Nations such as EU. Japan, Korea, France, Taiwan and China  is also expected to participate at this meeting.

Sri Lanka has been actively involved in the tuna resource management activities for over half a century, from the time of the establishment of the Indian Ocean Fishery Commission (IOFC) for the management of Indian Ocean Tuna in 1968.

Sri Lanka further strengthened its involvement in tuna management and scientific data collection with the shifting of the Indo-Pacific Project (IPTP) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from the Philippines to Colombo in 1982. Sri Lanka hosted the project, with the Project Office located in the National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARAS), till it was wound up in 1990.  Sri Lanka joined IOTC soon after the Draft Agreement for the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission was adopted by FAO in 1993 thus becoming a founder Member of IOTC by joining it in 1994.