FALKLAND ISLANDS GOVERNMENT
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
21 June 2021
The Falkland Islands join the International Monitoring Control and Surveillance Network
The Falkland Islands has joined the international network of fisheries enforcement agencies known as the International Monitoring Control and Surveillance Network (IMCSN), as a member state. The network represents nearly 80 national and intergovernmental organisations responsible for fisheries-related monitoring, control, and surveillance, including the UK, Chile and South Africa.
It is an informal arrangement of countries, regional fisheries management and economic integration organisations, which bring together fisheries enforcement, expertise, skills and resources in a global network. The Fisheries Protection Service at the Directorate of Natural Resources (DNR) represents the Falkland Islands within the network.
“The Falkland Islands are entirely unique for both their capacity to use world class resources to manage fisheries and the demand for their exported ocean resources,” said Mark Young, Executive Director of the IMCS Network. “The economic importance of fisheries to the Falkland Islands offers an incentive to protect future resources by continuing and strengthening best practices.”
The IMCSN is the only global forum for operational-level fisheries practitioners that is focused on facilitating cooperation and collaboration in support of global, regional and national efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
“The Southwest Atlantic is one of the few remaining ocean areas not covered by a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation, which brings challenges to small national authorities such as ours in relation to high seas fisheries and straddling stocks,” said Tim Costelloe, DNR Operations Manager. “We welcome this opportunity to expand our network and to build a solid relationship with IMCSN and partners over the years to come.”
The mission of the IMCS Network is to promote and facilitate cooperation and coordination among members through information exchange, capacity development and collaboration, in order to achieve the improved efficiency of monitoring, control and surveillance activities.
Dr Andrea Clausen, Director of Natural Resources, added: “The Falkland Islands Government has taken a significant step in broadening and strengthening its capacity to carry out robust control and enforcement by joining the IMCS Network. We look forward to working with the team at IMCSN as we share intelligence and learn lessons in this critical area of fisheries management.”
The IMCS Network was established in 2001 to provide a mechanism for fisheries law enforcement professionals to share information, calibrate tools, and collaborate on policy development. More information can be found on their website: https://imcsnet.org/
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