The Committee examined its work since the First Session, undertook an appraisal of FAO's fisheries research-related programmes and elaborated the Committee's work for the intersessional period (1999-2000).

The Meeting of FAO and non-FAO Regional Fishery Bodies or Arrangements discussed three main items: major issues affecting the performance of regional fishery bodies (RFB); a multifaceted approach to fishery status and trends reporting; and regional fishery bodies as vehicles for good fishery governance. The meeting reached a number of conclusions regarding matters meriting the attention of RFBs, governments and FAO. It stressed the importance of the precautionary approach for fisheries management and governance and of involving all stakeholders in developing management measures, and urged to continue to adapt their mandates, structures and policies in order to respond better to the challenges facing world fisheries. It expressed its concern over the problems arising from over-capacity in fisheries and the lack of sufficient progress in improving the monitoring and enforcement of management measures. The participants expressed their appreciation at the opportunity afforded by the meeting to share experiences and view upon often common problems and recommended that further such meetings should be held regularly, with FAO as focal point, preferably prior to future sessions of the FAO Committee on Fisheries.--Publisher's description.

The Committee examined its work since the First Session, undertook an appraisal of FAO's fisheries research-related programmes and elaborated the Committee's work for the intersessional period (1999-2000).

The Meeting of FAO and non-FAO Regional Fishery Bodies or Arrangements discussed three main items: major issues affecting the performance of regional fishery bodies (RFB); a multifaceted approach to fishery status and trends reporting; and regional fishery bodies as vehicles for good fishery governance. The meeting reached a number of conclusions regarding matters meriting the attention of RFBs, governments and FAO. It stressed the importance of the precautionary approach for fisheries management and governance and of involving all stakeholders in developing management measures, and urged to continue to adapt their mandates, structures and policies in order to respond better to the challenges facing world fisheries. It expressed its concern over the problems arising from over-capacity in fisheries and the lack of sufficient progress in improving the monitoring and enforcement of management measures. The participants expressed their appreciation at the opportunity afforded by the meeting to share experiences and view upon often common problems and recommended that further such meetings should be held regularly, with FAO as focal point, preferably prior to future sessions of the FAO Committee on Fisheries.--Publisher's description.

Now in its 14th year, the NILOS Documentary Yearbook provides the reader with an excellent collection of documents related to ocean affairs and the law of the sea, issued each year by organizations, organs and bodies of the United Nations system. Documents of the UN General Assembly, Meeting of State Parties to the 1982 UN Law of the Sea Convention, CLCS, ISBA, ITLOS, Follow-Up to the UN Straddling Fish Stocks and Small Island States Conferences, Panama Canal, ECOSOC, UNEP and UNCTAD are included first, followed by the documents of FAO, IAEA, IMO, UNESCO/IOC. As in the previous volumes, documents which were issued in the course of 1998 are reproduced, while other relevant documents are listed. The NILOS Documentary Yearbook has proved to be of invaluable assistance in facilitating access by the community of scholars and practitioners in ocean affairs and the law of the sea to essential documentation. The entry of the 1992 UN Law of the Sea Convention into force on 16th November 1994 and of the Part XI Agreement on 28 July, 1996, and progress in the implementation of Chapter 17 of Agenda 21, make continuation of this assistance of particular significance in the years to come. Volume 14 contains Special Report by Editor-in-Chief Barbara Kwiatkowska on The Law-of-the-Sea-Related Cases in the International Court of Justice During the Presidency of Judge Stephen M. Schwebel (1997-2000). It explores the unique role of the ICJ as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations in the development of ocean affairs and the law of the sea, in the context of an ongoing follow-up to the Overall Review and Appraisal of the UNCED Agenda 21. The members of the Yearbook's Advisory Board are: Judges Abdul Koroma and Shigeru Oda of the ICJ, Judges Thomas Mensah, Dolliver Nelson and Tullio Treves of the ITLOS, as well as Rosalie Balkin, Edward Brown, Lee Kimball, Bernard Oxman and Shabtai Rosenne.