At the heart of the diplomatic conference was an Agreement being negotiated to give effect to the objectives of Torremolinos Convention (an IMO Convention on Fishing Vessel Safety Standards), which never came into force due to lack of consensus by member states, 35 years on.
Transport Minister, Honourable Dikobe Ben Martins, on behalf of the Republic of South Africa, officially welcomed the Secretary-General of the Organisation, His Excellency Koji Sekimizu, maritime technical experts and delegates representing some 171 member states who are signatories to the IMO on Tuesday 9, October.
During the official opening of the Conference, Minister Martins had appealed to the delegates to ensure that the international maritime sector was not left without a binding agreement on safety standards for fishing vessels.
Speaking at a Galla Dinner held for the delegate on Wednesday evening, the IMO Secretary-General described South Africa as a country of hope and possibilities. (He emphasized the importance of establishing a globally binding safety regime for fishing vessels that is both robust and workable.)
"The time is now ripe for an agreement to be concluded such that the objectives of the Torremolinos Convention can be met internationally. As I came to the Centre (CTICC) this morning, I heard great news - that an agreement has been reached by the delegates gathered here for this Conference," said the Secretary-General.
Fishing is the largest maritime sector in the world with estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of some 30 million people engaging in fishing as a source of income or a source of food. It is the most dangerous profession in the world with estimates by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) of 24,000 deaths per annum.
Though fishing is the largest maritime sector it has no mandatory instruments that govern fishing vessel safety, (with the exception, in some respect, of Chapter V of Safety of Life at Sea Convention - SOLAS).
The recent entry into force of the Convention on training standards in fishing (the Standards for Training Certification and Watch-keeping in Fishing Convention), as well as a convention that governs employment and working conditions (the C188 Work in Fishing) is a major step forward for the sector.
However, there is a need for a binding vessel safety instrument (the Torremolinos Convention) to complete the matrix and put in place a regime that gives 30 million fishers the same protection that is enjoyed by the 1.4 million seafarers who work on cargo ships.
In 1977, an International Conference on the Safety of Fishing Vessels adopted the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels, 1977 and adopted the subsequent Torremolinos Protocol of 1993, but both failed to come into force due to lack of support.
The Cape Town agreement takes into account the trend to exploit deep water fishing on a large scale and to conduct fishing operations in distant waters, resulting in the building of a new generation of more sophisticated fishing vessels.
To be successful in their operations, these vessels have to be fitted with advanced fish-finding and navigation equipment. In terms of the Cape Town agreement, fishing vessels must also be equipped to carry out environment-friendly trawling, introduced to preserve fishing resources as well as the seabed.
The general trend in modern designed fishing vessels, if they are to be economically sustainable, is that they must include improvements in machinery and fishing gear.
The conference concluded successfully with full consensus reached amongst member states including those with large fleets of fishing vessels above 24 meters in length, thereby creating favourable conditions for early coming into force of this critical fishing vessel safety instrument after 35 years of failing to do so.
Together with the recent coming into force of fishing training standards and the instrument on enforcing safe working conditions in this sector, better conditions will be enforceable for fishing safety.
The host country South Africa made it possible for the agreement to be reached. In the words of the Chairperson of the Committee that facilitated the discussions, South Africa must seek to preserve its capability to facilitate solutions around what appears at times to be intractable and insoluble problems.
