Fisheries officials from eight countries, all members of the Victoria-based Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), are taking part in the session being held at the Seychelles Fishing Authority’s conference room.

Besides Seychelles, which is being represented by a delegation from the SFA headed by Jude Talma, the other countries taking part are Mauritius, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Oman, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The workshop, which opened on Monday, is being organised by the IOTC with the support of the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Fish 11 Programme.

The IOTC is an inter-governmental organisation made of 28 member states and four cooperating non-contracting states. It has the mandate to conserve and manage tuna species in the Indian Ocean.

The meeting is funded by the European Union and some officials from Spain and Norway are also attending.

The officials are then expected to follow up with their respective administrations to ease the implementation of the IOTC Port State Measures Resolution.

This measure, which came into force in March 2011, is aimed at preventing, deterring and eliminating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing of tuna species.

Opening the workshop, IOTC executive secretary, Alessandro Anganuzzi, said the member states with ports on the Indian Ocean have, by virtue of adopting this resolution, agreed  to implement the Port State Measures, even before the FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation) agreement comes into force.

He noted that being ahead bodes well for the future as it underlines the importance of the threat constituted by illegal fishing, as viewed by the member states.

The IOTC member countries are expected to set up a network for coordination and cooperation to ensure compliance by all vessels involved in tuna fishing.

Mr Anganuzzi said the percentage of illegal, unregulated and unreported tuna catch in the Indian Ocean was estimated at 25% until a few years ago, but is believed to have gone down to as low as 10%.

One reason for the decrease is that member states are increasingly aware of the threat posed by foreign unlicenced vessels fishing in their waters and not reporting their catch.

Ships, especially fishing vessels calling at Port Victoria, are inspected to check whether they are licenced and what catch they have on board.

Many states have now established regular ship inspection at their ports and Mr Anganuzzi said it is important that this is done systematically.

The early implementation of these controls in the Indian Ocean since this year makes  IOTC the leading fisheries organisation in the world in this area.

It is hoped  that other organisations will closely follow this experience.