World Delegates Gather In Manta To Push For PSMA

The Ecuadorian government is hosting the fifth meeting of the Parties to the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) in Manta from April 21 to 25. Some of the key issues that would be discussed during the ongoing week-long event include reviewing the implementation and effectiveness of the Agreement and ways to monitor it. Participants, who are government officials and NGO members, would look into the ‘Bali Strategy.’ This is a set of priorities and actions introduced to support the implementation of PSMA, adopted at the Second PSMA Meeting held in Bali in 2019. The attendees would identify ways to keep “vessels suspected of engaging in IUU fishing away from ports,” read an FAO statement.

The PSMA, a global treaty aimed at combating IUU fishing by establishing international standards, was adopted by the FAO in 2009 and entered into force in 2016. Its main intention is to monitor and inspect foreign fishing vessels involved in IUU fishing and deny their entry into ports. Currently, over 68 countries, including the EU, have ratified the PSMA. The FAO shows 84 nations are listed as participants. The meeting is co-funded by the EU and Korea.