Southeast Asia Trawl Fisheries Round-Table Meeting 21 September 2016, Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

As the REBYC-II CTI project was coming to an end it was decided that a round-table meeting involving the Fishing Industry of the REBYC-II CTI countries and other SEAFDEC member countries should be organized in order to have clear recommendations from the industry how the trawl fishing could be made more sustainable and profitable in Southeast Asia. The round-table meeting was organized on 21 September 2016, prior to the reginal workshop on the Future of Trawl Fisheries Management, with 42 participants representing the key stakeholders and especially the private fishing industry. First, the key outcomes of the project was presented to the industry participants. One of these outcomes was that effective stakeholder participation in the development of the fisheries management plans is fundamental. Another major factor in the successful process is the acceptance and adoption of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM). The participants then discussed widely of the current constraints in trawl fisheries in SE Asia. By the end of the day they came up with a large number of suggestions on how the private sector can contribute to the effective management of trawl fisheries and what should be the role of the regional and international organizations in this regard. These outputs were used in the subsequent regional meeting on the Future of Trawl Fisheries Management in Southeast Asia.