Speaker: Dr Mary Ann Palma-Robles, Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security, University of Wollongong

1. ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF FISHERIES IN
THE INDIAN OCEAN: FROM RESOURCE
SUSTAINABILITY TO REGIONAL SECURITY
Dr Mary Ann Palma-Robles
Australian National Centre for Ocean
Resources and Security (ANCORS)
University of Wollongong
OCEAN LAW AND POLICY
MARITIME SECURITY
INNOVATIVE WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH
OUTSTANDING CAPACITY BUILDING
CONNECT: ANCORS

2. Presentation Outline
• Economic and conservation significance of
fisheries in the Indian Ocean
– Patterns of production and trade
• Key issues and challenges confronting the
region in addressing the sustainability and
security of fisheries resources
• Commitments of six regional and sub-
regional bodies in the Indian Ocean
• Opportunities for the region

3. Fisheries in the Indian Ocean
• Involves numerous countries with diverse economies,
cultures, and fishing practices
• Fisheries comprise a complex mix of inshore, artisanal,
offshore, commercial, traditional, and recreational marine
capture fisheries, as well as aquaculture
• Contributes to food security, poverty alleviation, and
economic development in the region
– Up to 50% of animal protein intake in some IO countries
– Commercially valuable species from a range of pelagic fish,
demersal fish, and crustaceans
– Livelihood from downstream industries
– Source of foreign exchange and high contribution to GDP in
some countries
• Subject to different fisheries management approaches
and regimes

4. Indian ocean fishing area for purposes
of fisheries statistics (FAO)
Eastern
Western
Antarctic and Southern

5. Eastern
Indian Ocean
• Bangladesh,
eastern India,
southern and
western Indonesia,
western Malaysia,
Myanmar, Sri
Lanka, western
Thailand, and
Australia
• Bay of Bengal,
central and
oceanic Indian
ocean region,
western and
southern Australia
Source: FAO Website, Regional Fishery Bodies, 2014

6. Western
Indian Ocean
• Red Sea, the
Gulf, Western
and Eastern
Arabian Sea,
Somalia, Kenya,
Tanzania,
Madagascar and
Mozambique
Channel, oceanic
part
Source: FAO Website, Regional Fishery Bodies, 2014

7. Antarctic and Southern Indian Ocean
• Enderby-Wilkes, Kerguelen, McDonald,
Crozet, Marion-Edward
Source: FAO Website, Regional Fishery Bodies, 2014

8. Source: Generated from FAO FishStatJ, 2014)
Indian Ocean Fish Production, 1950-2012, in tonnes

9. Catch in the Indian Ocean
Source: FAO, State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012

10. Trend in Tuna Catch in the
Indian Ocean (Major Species)
Source: Extracted from data provided in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission Website, 2014

11. RECOFI Members Catch in the Gulf and Oman Sea, 2007-2011, in tons
Country 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Bahrain
15 014 14 175 16 356 13 490 9 915
Iran
329 626 341 980 348 122 368 505 411 897
Iraq
7 572 4 594 5 986 7 118 1 647
Kuwait
4 373 3 979 4 707 4 500 4 500
Oman
151 744 151 910 158 551 163 927 158 566
Qatar
15 190 17 688 14 064 13 760 12 985
Saudi Arabia 40 052 43 509 41 602 39 084 37 420
UAE
96 453 74 075 77 705 79 610 75 147
Total
660 024 651 910 667 093 689 994 712 077
Source: Extracted from FAO, Fisheries Global Information System (FIGIS), 2014

12. Aquaculture Production
• 6,138,043 tonnes worth US$12.2 billion
for South Asia
• Equivalent to about 8 percent of the
total world aquaculture production
• Growth rate of 9% per year (volume)
and 13% per year (value) between
2000 and 2010

13. Comparison
of Regional
Fish Trade
Fish Trade Flows in Indian Ocean Countries, 2007-2011, in tons
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Export 12 829 956 14 146 032 13 840 389 15 999 232 19 003 392
Import 3 872 365 4 761 089 4 469 980 5 207 432 6 452 768
Reexport 124 942 136 257 81 544 89 963 83 907
Fish Trade Flows in Pacific Island Countries, 2007-2011, in tons
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Export 614 068 555 817 603 966 653 184 635 812
Import 387 643 397 615 369 013 389 971 413 961
Reexport 4 136 2 126 6 774 11 843 36 114
Fish Trade Flows in Asian Countries, 2007-2011, in tons
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Export 31 387 103 35 120 440 34 406 245 41 635 328 50 439 363
Import 12 029 743 12 277 607 12 337 598 12 939 121 13 535 138
Reexport 471 253 493 200 416 364 479 773 569 478
Fish Trade Flows in African Countries, 2007-2011, in tons
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Export 1 627 906 1 696 691 1 677 177 1 717 998 1 697 565
Import 3 459 160 3 352 554 3 282 902 3 487 198 4 054 158
Reexport 42 094 36 969 39 817 44 920 40 025
Source: Extracted from FAO, Fisheries Global Information System (FIGIS), 2014

14. Value of Fish Exports, Selected Indian Ocean Countries, 2009-2012, in USD
IO Country 2009 2010 2011 2012
India 1,412,385,626 2,163,676,018 3,211,757,854 3,282,148,106
Sri Lanka 179,205,964 171,580,646 195,270,992 204,744,589
Pakistan Data not available Data not available Data not available 292,204,684
Kenya 47,338,646 52,022,411 Data not available Data not available
Mozambique Data not available Data not available Data not available 25,786,670
Comparison of India and Thailand
India fish import: $68 million
Thailand fish import: $2.8 billion
Source: UN COMM TRADE Statistics, 2014

15. Global vessel size
and distribution
Source: FAO, State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012

16. Fisheries-related Challenges in the
Indian Ocean
• Inadequate stock assessment
• Poor data collection
• Resource threats from: overfishing, pollution, habitat
destruction, illegal activities
• Extreme environmental occurrence
• Post-harvest losses due to lack of capacity
• Lack of effective management for small-scale fisheries
– Problem of overcapacity
• Ineffective domestic fisheries management regime and legal
framework
• Lack of comprehensive regional approach or framework
• Increasing international regulation on fish trade and IUU fishing

17. Emergence of Other Fisheries Issues
with Regional Security Impact
• Use of fishing vessels for acts of terrorism or
other criminal activities
• Involvement of organised criminal groups in
illegal fishing, especially for high value species
• Alleged harassment of fishing vessels by naval
vessels in contested areas
• Lack of international and regional legal and
policy framework to address the above issues

18. The Indian Ocean in terms of regional
fisheries policy and management
Regional Fishery Bodies with
Scientific and/or Policy Functions
• Bay of Bengal Programme
Inter-Governmental
Organization (BOBP-IGO)
• Regional Commission for
Fisheries (RECOFI)
• Regional Organization for
the Conservation of the
Environment of the Red Sea
and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA)
• Southwest Indian Ocean
Fisheries Commission
(SWIOFC)
Regional Fishery Bodies with
Management Functions (RFMOs)
• Indian Ocean Tuna
Commission (IOTC)
• South Indian Ocean
Fisheries Agreement
(SIOFA)
• (SWIOFC)
Other regional fishery bodies:
CCAMLR, APFIC

19. RFB Area of Competence Species coverage Members
BOBP-IGO EEZ, High seas All marine fish stocks Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka
RECOFI Areas under national
jurisdiction
All living marine
resources
Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE
PERSGA The Red Sea, the Gulf of
Aqaba, the Gulf of Suez,
the Suez Canal to its end
on the Mediterranean,
and the Gulf of Aden
All elements of the
marine and coastal
environment
Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen
SWIOFC Areas under national
jurisdiction
All living marine
resources
Comoros, France, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius,
Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania,
Yemen
IOTC High seas and areas
under national
jurisdiction
Tuna and tuna-like
species in the Indian
Ocean and adjacent
seas
Non-target species of
ecological importance
Australia, Belize, China, Comoros, Eritrea, European Union,
France, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kenya,
Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Seychelles,
Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, United Kingdom,
Tanzania, Vanuatu, Yemen
Cooperating Non-Members: Senegal, South Africa.
SIOFA High seas All marine fish stocks
(non-highly migratory
species)
Australia, Cook Islands, European Union, Mauritius, Seychelles
Other regional bodies: CCAMLR, APFIC, SADC

20. IOTC Area of
Competence
Source: IOTC Website 2014

21. Importance of the IOTC in the
region
• Provides a management regime for one of the most
commercially valuable species in the region and the world
• Implementation of fisheries conservation and management
measures through monitoring, control and surveillance
– Vessel record
– IUU vessel listing
– Statistical documentation scheme
– Port state measures
– Regional observers
– Compliance monitoring
• Future development
– Establishment of a high seas boarding and inspection

22. Key tuna and tuna-like
species in the IOTC Area
of Competence
Catch (2012) Average Catch
(2008-2012)
Status of Stocks
Albacore tuna 33,960 t 37,082 t Not overfished but may be subject
to overfishing
Bigeye tuna 115,793 t 107,603 t Stock not overfished and not
subject to overfishing
Skipjack tuna 314,537 t 400,980 t Stock not overfished and not
subject to overfishing
Yellowfin tuna 368,663 t 317,505 t Stock not overfished and not
subject to overfishing
Swordfish 26,184 t 24,545 t Stock not overfished and not
subject to overfishing
Striped marlin 4,833 t 3,011 t Stock is overfished and subject to
overfishing
Longtail tuna 155,603 t 133,890 t Not overfished but may be subject
to overfishing

23. Type_Gear (Multiple Items)
Count of IOTC_no Year_Active
Flag 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Australia 78 81 23 21 17 11 10 9 8 13 12 11 11
Belize 105 36 24 8 16 12 8 10 9 5 7 7 6
China 98 92 90 62 62 67 67 67 46 32 20 15 36
France (EU) 16 42 18 18 298 290 42 44 42 35 33 27
Italy (EU) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Portugal (EU) 8 10 2 2 7 14 15 5 6 4 4 3
Spain (EU) 36 17 20 34 41 49 50 39 30 26 34 38
United Kingdom (EU) 4 4 4 4 4 3 3
France (Territories) 1 2 2 2 4 5 5
Guinea 3 3 6 3 3 3
India 3 3 2 2 4 70 77 34 50 64 51 20
Indonesia 754 1171 1201 993 1196 1275
Iran 1016 1109 1206 1307 1270 1251 1233
Japan 500 496 189 170 182 184 227 217 210 140 112 70 72
Kenya 2 2 1
Korea_Republic of 54 155 202 36 28 29 33 24 20 13 7 10
Madagascar 1 5 2 1 2 6 4 8
Malaysia 13 7 14 18 28 62 58 59 43 8 5
Mauritius 7 7 8 8 8 10 8 1 3 4 5
Oman 4 11 24 29 27 8
Philippines 17 33 16 25 12 18 17 17 8 7 3 14
Senegal 1 1 1 3
Seychelles 28 36 80 51 51 43 45 42 50 50 31 39
South Africa 6 12 12 16 9 4 13 14 10 15 13
Sri Lanka 1001 2631 2975 3261 3295 3588 2482
Tanzania 3 4 1 8
Thailand 3 2 4 2 2 8 13 11 6 11 10 5 5
Uruguay 2 2 1 1
Mozambique 1 1 1
Pakistan 10
Vanuatu 4 4 2
Maldives 234 249
Grand Total 844 833 664 643 1241 1946 4145 4459 4779 5045 5988 6591 5578
Number of Active Vessels in the IOTC region
Source: IOTC Website 2014

24. Limitations of regional
agreements and arrangements
• Most regional organisations do not have legal mechanisms
that bind members to ensure implementation of management
measures
– Only the IOTC has a compliance monitoring system
• Limited species coverage
• Existence of IUU fishing activities
• Organisation functions are limited
– Mostly on fisheries conservation and do not have jurisdiction to
address transnational crime in fisheries
• Underdeveloped involvement of the navy in regional fisheries
compliance
• Implementation of measures depends largely on the capacity
and political will of member states

25. Opportunities to Address Fisheries
Issues in the Indian Ocean
• Most commercially valuable fisheries are not overfished
• Regional trade advantages
– IO countries are net exporters of fish
• Increasing access of coastal States to resources of the Indian Ocean
• Growing awareness on the nexus between illegal fishing and transnational
crime
• MCS development
– High seas enforcement scheme
• Strengthened regional approach to transboundary issues
– Better coordination mechanism between relevant subregional organisations
– Involvement of key actors (e.g. South Africa, SADC)
• Discussion of fisheries issues in broader economic and regional security fora
(e.g. IORA)
– E.g. fish trade; conflict resolution; transnational crime in fisheries; fishing vessel safety
and labour issues

26. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
For questions and comments
mpalma@uow.edu.au