The Thirty-sixth Session of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) was convened in virtual session, Bangkok, Thailand from 5 to 7 May 2021, hosted by the Department of Fisheries, Government of Thailand. It was attended by 50 registered delegates from 17 APFIC member countries, 3 non-APFIC FAO members and 7 observer Regional Organizations. The Commission reviewed the intersessional programme activities of APFIC and endorsed the report of the meeting of the 77th APFIC Executive Committee. The Commission emphasized the importance of fishery management grounded on science for sustainable marine and inland fisheries and recognized the importance of APFIC as a regionally focused platform and requested broader discussions and consultations among members related to APFIC’s future. The Commission endorsed the 2021-2023 biennial APFIC workplan with an amendment to include the establishment of an ad hoc working group to review the limitations and provide recommendations for future of the Commission . The Commission elected China (Chair) and Thailand (Vice-chair) as the office bearers for the Thirty-seventh Session, with India, Malaysia, Philippines elected as Members of the Executive Committee. The Commission agreed that the 37th Session of APFIC will be convened in China in 2023.

The Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) was established in 1948 and has undergone various reforms since then to adapt to the changing international governance of fisheries as well as reforms in the function and resourcing of FAO’s regional fishery bodies. This gradually induced a major crisis in the commission’s ability to develop and execute a work programme for servicing its members. The 36th Session of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission, held in May 2021, recognized the pressing issues of financial unsustainability and FAO's declining willingness and ability to provide Regular Programme funding for commission activities. It recommended the establishment of an 'ad hoc working group on the future of APFIC' to analyse issues and explore possible options to advise the commission on its future. In a majority, the ad hoc working group recommended to support temporary suspension of the commission, in the light of questionnaire responses and the limited prospects for identifying financial resources for the activities of the commission. It prepared a draft resolution regarding suspension for consideration by the 37th session and recommended that suspension of the commission should be for a period five years. Noting that some Member Countries supported continuation, the ad hoc working group also prepared a draft resolution for continuation of the activities of the commission, should this be the decision of the 37th session. The text of this resolution incorporates specific reference to the establishment of a financial arrangement to support the work programme of the commission.

The global fisheries sector in 2023 is now appreciably different compared to that of the 1970s, as are the dominant fish stocks that comprise most of the current global landings, their location and modes of their exploitation. The fisheries of South and Southeast Asia have also changed over this period and alongside their changing nature, there has been the continuous evolution of the tools and the requirements for calculating and presenting global sustainability information. This has transformed ability to assess fish stocks, use data-poor methodologies, assess multispecies fisheries and also take into account some of the complex interactions between target and non-target species and related ecosystem effects. The countries of the South and Southeast Asia region have not reported the status of stocks in a comprehensive manner to FAO and there is a need to understand how to access existing information and also build capacity to assess the fisheries of the region using appropriate tools. This review provides thematic papers on stock assessment approaches and their application to the region. The country analysis describes the data sources and assessment methods currently being applied in national fishery management areas and in smaller regions. The review contains recommendations on the needs for capacity building and how improved regional networking can provide support to the greater understanding and application of new or improved methods of stock assessment in the region.

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