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The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) is a treaty-based organisation. It was established to conserve and manage tuna and other highly migratory fish stocks across the western and central areas of the Pacific Ocean and commenced operations in late 2005. Its full name is Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

It was established by the Convention for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, which entered into force in 2004. The WCPF Convention is the second regional fisheries management agreement negotiated since the conclusion of the 1995 U.N. Straddling Fish Stocks Agreement.

Operation

The WCPF Convention was built on the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, and set out to address the specific characteristics of the western and central Pacific Ocean. It established a framework for the participation of fishing entities which legally binds them to the provisions of the Convention. Territories and possessions can participate in the work of the Commission, which is also mandated to cooperate with fisheries in other regions if the area of competence overlaps with WCPFC.

The current chairman of the commission is Dr Charles Karnella of the USA. He succeeds Satya Nandan from Fiji, who was also the first Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority, and who himself succeeded the first Chairman, Professor Glenn Hurry, former CEO of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority. The secretariat for the commission is located in Kolonia, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia in a building funded by the Chinese government. The Commission holds its ninth regular session in December 2012, in Manila, Philippines.

Membership

Membership of the Commission is open to the States that participated in negotiating the 2004 Convention. The only negotiating States that have not yet taken up the opportunity to become contracting parties are Indonesia, and the United Kingdom on behalf of Pitcairn. Indonesia has however agreed to abide by the measures of the Commission by becoming a Cooperating Non-Member. The contracting parties to the Convention, by consensus, may invite States or regional economic integration organizations that wish to fish for highly migratory fish stocks in the western and central Pacific to accede to the Convention. This approach restricts access, emphasizing that the initiative to accede lies with existing parties, not with new applicants.

Members

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• Australia
• China
• Canada
• Cook Islands
• European Community
• Federated States of Micronesia
• Fiji
• France
• Japan
• Kiribati

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• South Korea
• Marshall Islands
• Nauru
• New Zealand
• Niue
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
• Philippines
• Samoa

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• Solomon Islands
• Chinese Taipei
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
• United States
• Vanuatu

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Participating territories

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• American Samoa
• Northern Mariana Islands
• French Polynesia

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• Guam
• New Caledonia
• Tokelau

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• Wallis & Futuna

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Cooperating non-members

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• Belize
• Ecuador
• El Salvador

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• Indonesia
• Mexico
• Senegal

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• Vietnam
• Panama
• Thailand

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See also

• Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC)
• Secretariat of the Pacific Community

References

1. Contribution from the Secretariat of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. Review Conference on the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (New York, 22 to 26 May 2006). On the website of the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.
2. WCPFC. "WCPFC Website". Retrieved 25 May 2012.
3. Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

External links

• Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission – Official web site
• Mahon, R and McConney, PA (2004) Management of large pelagic fisheries in CARICOM Countries FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 464.

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• Fisheries agencies
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• Pacific Ocean
• Organizations based in the Federated States of Micronesia
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