Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement SIOFA

PURPOSE: to conclude the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Decision 2008/780/EC on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Community, of the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement.

CONTENT: the Council approved, on behalf of the Community, the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA).

The Agreement, signed in 2006, establishes a new regional fisheries management organisation responsible for ensuring the conservation and management of Non-Tuna species in the high seas of the Southern Indian Ocean.

The Community has fishing interests in the South Indian Ocean and is also a Coastal State on behalf of the Reunion Island. Furthermore, under the terms of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Community is obliged to cooperate with other relevant stakeholders in the management and conservation of the resources in this region. That is why the Agreement is approved on behalf of the Community.

A specific procedure is provided for to enable this instrument to enter into force for all the signatory parties.