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title: "FAO’S Committee on Fisheries to meet in March 2008"
---

# FAO’S Committee on Fisheries to meet in March 2008

The **28th Session of the Committee on Fisheries ([COFI](http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/17000/en))** will be held at the Headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ([FAO](https://acap.aq/www.fao.org)) in Rome, Italy from **2-6 March 2009****.**

 COFI, a subsidiary body of the FAO Council, was established in 1965 and meets biennially. COFI negotiates international agreements and non-binding instruments, such as the 1995 **Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries** ([CCRF](http://www.fao.org/fishery/ccrf/en)) and the **International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries** ([IPOA-Seabirds](http://www.fao.org/fishery/publications/seabirds/npoa)) adopted in 1999.

 Some of the issues to be discussed at the 2008 Session include:

 · Management of deep sea fisheries in the high seas,

 · Combating IUU (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated) fishing, including through a legally binding instrument on port State measures and the establishment of a global record of fishing vessels, and

 · Climate change and fisheries.

 It is expected that COFI-28 will also discuss the Report of the Expert Consultation on Best Practice Technical Guidelines for IPOA/NPOA-Seabirds, held in Bergen, Norway in September 2008 ([click here](https://acap.aq/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=191&Itemid=28) for an earlier news item on this report).

 At the opening of each COFI session, [The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture](http://www.fao.org/fishery/sofia/en), the flagship publication ([http://www.fao.org/fishery/sofia/en](http://www.fao.org/fishery/sofia/en)) of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, is presented.

 ACAP will be represented at COFI-28 by its Executive Secretary, Warren Papworth. He will also attend the Regional Fishery Body Secretariat's meeting which follows on from COFI.

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, posted 19 February 2009*