CMS was represented for the first time at the Twenty-Fifth Session of the FAO's Committee on Fisheries, held in Rome from 24-28 February 2003.

COFI meets every two years to discuss a wide range of fisheries-related matters, including status/trends in capture fisheries and aquaculture, IUU (illegal, unregulated and unreported) fishing, ecosystem-based management, fishing capacity, and subsidies. Also featuring prominently on the agenda was the proposed development of a memorandum of understanding between FAO and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Of particular interest to CMS were discussions on the implementation of various FAO international plans of action (IPOAs), including those for seabirds and sharks, as well as a Japanese proposal for FAO to organise an intergovernmental technical consultation on marine turtles, most likely to be held in Bangkok in early 2004. Though the latter received broad support, there was a general acknowledgement that progress on implementation of the existing IPOAs has proceeded slowly.

The CMS Secretariat's statement highlighted the Convention's ongoing work in relation to sea birds, sharks and marine mammals, and supported the initiation of a process leading to the development of an IPOA to effectively address fisheries-marine turtle interactions.

• Read the CMS Statement to COFI-25