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ACAP has now completed an Arrangement by exchange of notes with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC).  This is the second such arrangement with an RFMO, one previously having been made with the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

The objective of the Arrangement is to facilitate cooperation between the two bodies, with a view to supporting efforts to minimize the incidental bycatch of albatrosses and petrels listed in ACAP's Annex 1.  Cooperation may take place inter alia by the development of systems for collecting and analysing data, by designing, testing and implementing mitigation measures for reducing seabird bycatch, and by implementing education and awareness programmes for fishers.  The arrangement also makes provision for reciprocal participation with observer status at relevant meetings of each organisation.

Following discussion at the Third Session of the Meeting of Parties to ACAP, held in Bergen, Norway in April/May 2009 (MoP3), it was agreed that arrangements, to be known as Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), will be sought with the a further four RFMOs, as well as with  the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living resources (CCAMLR) and the Latin American Organization for Fisheries Development (OLDEPESCA).  In doing this a template for future MoUs adopted at MoP3 would be followed.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 21 August 2009