Ministers of the High Seas Task Force to Announce Joint Initiatives against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

February 24, 2006

Launch of the Final HSTF Report

PARIS - Media are invited to register to participate in a news conference with the members of the ministerial-level High Seas Task Force on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing on March 3, 2006 in Paris. At the event, Task Force members will launch their final report, CLOSING THE NET: Stopping Illegal Fishing on the High Seas, and announce key action areas that they will immediately begin to implement to address the global IUU fishing problem.

The High Seas Task Force comprises a small group of fisheries ministers from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Chile, Namibia and New Zealand, together with partners from WWF, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the Earth Institute. Participants at the news conference will include:

• Ben Bradshaw, United Kingdom Marine and Fisheries Minister, and Chair of the High Seas Task Force
• Eric Abetz, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation in Australia
• Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada
• Felipe Sandoval, Fisheries Undersecretary of Chile
• Abraham Iyambo, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources in Namibia
• Jim Anderton, Minister of Fisheries in New Zealand
• Dr. Claude Martin, WWF's Honorary Advisor
• Dr. Achim Steiner, Director-General of the IUCN
• Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute
• Simon Upton, Head of the High Seas Task Force Secretariat, and
• Chair of the Round Table on Sustainable Development at the OECD

Date: Friday, March 3, 2006
Time: 13:00 - 14:30 CET
Location: Salle A, World Bank Facilities
66 avenue d'Iena, Paris 16e arrondissement

Members of the media are advised that they must pre-register by February 28, 2006 to attend this event and that press credentials, including photo identification will be required to gain entry to the World Bank facilities. Registration forms can be completed at www.high-seas.org/mediainquiries.htm http://www.high-seas.org/mediainquiries.htm.

For additional information, please contact Manon Querouil, Media Relations for the High Seas Task Force Secretariat at + 33 6 15 53 18 11.