Regional Director Remia A. Aparri of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Regional Office VI (BFAR 6) represented the Philippines in the 20th Ocean and Fisheries Working Group (OFWG) Meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held on February 14-15, 2023, in Palm Springs, California.

The two-day meeting discussed APEC’s initiatives and direction in small-scale fisheries and aquaculture, fisheries subsidies, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, marine debris management, and coastal resilience.

“It was an honor to represent the Philippines in the APEC OFWG. We were able to share our local initiatives. We also get to learn from the practices of other economies and see which of their programs we can adopt here”, said RD Aparri during her feedback.

Director Aparri presented the Philippines’ fisheries initiatives that contributed to executing the Aoteroa Plan of Action to implement the Putrajaya Vison 2040 of an open dynamic, resilient, and peaceful Asia-Pacific community. She also discussed contributions to the La Serena Roadmap for Women and Inclusive Growth.

“This meeting is also timely as we continue to push for synergy among concerned agencies towards achieving climate-responsive and resilient coastal communities in the Philippines. We need to develop and tap our experts in climate change to craft and implement plans in the context of our fisheries”, RD Aparri added.

Regional Director Lilibeth Signey of BFAR Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) was also part of the Philippine delegation to the OFWG. RD Signey presented the Philippines’ efforts against IUU fishing highlighting a) the Republic Act (RA) 10654, series of 2015; b) the implementation of port state measures; catch documentation, and traceability; c) inter-agency law enforcement task force; d) Malinis at Masaganang Karagatan (MMK) Program; e) capacity building initiatives; and f) the IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool.

The Philippines is among the 21 member economies of APEC which also includes: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; the Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; the United States of America; and Vietnam. ### BFAR6/RJSenangote