On February 6 and 7, 2024, the Republic of Korea and ASOC co-hosted an informal online workshop on improving CCAMLR’s compliance regime, with a focus on aspects of compliance related to the krill fishery. Additional follow-up sessions were held in August. The aims of the workshop were to map areas for improvement in CCAMLR’s current compliance regime, review previous initiatives, identify blockages to achieving consensus, and identify areas for further work. Some of the areas identified for further work included transshipments, including observation and monitoring of transshipment activities, the chain of custody for krill, port inspections, notifications and vessel monitoring system (VMS) reporting. Participants also identified ways to make CCAMLR discussions on these areas more productive, such as focusing on the objectives for new proposals and how these fit into an overall vision for compliance in CCAMLR, identifying the benefits of new measures for fishing vessels, ensuring industry feedback, prioritizing proposals based on significance and their level of consensus, and developing detailed knowledge of international best practice.
The Republic of Korea and ASOC welcome discussion at CCAMLR-43 on this workshop report and hope that the report can encourage further discussion on priority areas of work.