International bilateral exchange    Date: October 24, 2019    Issued by Planning Division
Attending the 11th Advisory Committee (AC11) Meeting on the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP)


“ACAP” became effective in 2004, and involves the conservation of 31 types of seabirds. Currently, ACAP has 13 member nations. The organization convenes a Meeting of the Parties once every three years. During this period, an Advisory Committee and working groups of various scientific natures are convened each year. ACAP uses participation in Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) to include requirement for fishing boats to use seabird mitigation measures.  
Although Taiwan is not a member of the agreement nations, it has many far-ocean tuna boats spread through the three oceans. Fishing boats with high latitude operating range can still mistakenly capture seabirds. Thus, Taiwan is listed as a possible range state. Thus, Director-General Julia Hsiang-Wen Huang of OCA led a team to participate in the 11th Advisory Committee meeting. The meeting was held in Brazil’s Florianopolis from May 13 to May 17, 2019. Participating nations include New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay; observers include the U.S., Canada, and Taiwan. NGOs such as R3 Animal, Humane Society International (HSI), and Projeto Albatroz also participated.

The Advisory Committee chairman and other member nations were happy to see Taiwan’s participation. During the conference, Director-General Huang emphasized that Taiwan had already established a national seabird conservation action plan in 2006, which was also updated in 2014. The update requires that long-line fishing boats take measures to reduce the accidental capture of seabirds. In the future, the OCA will actively work with the Fisheries Agency and international organizations to improve related studies on conservation measures and fishermen advocacy education, which can effectively protect seabirds. We also used this opportunity to exchange marine life conservation-related laws and regulations, mechanisms, and methods with various countries, hoping to provide more methods to conserve marine environments and resources around Taiwan.  
Group photo of participants in the 11th Advisory Committee Meeting on the ACAP; discussion and exchange during the conference