The Committee on Fisheries at ist Seventeenth Session reviewed the world fisheries situation, the progress in the implementation of the Strategy for Fisheries Management and Development and the five Programmes of Action approved by the 1984 FAO World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development. It also reviewed actions taken by FAO in the implementation of the World Fisheries Conference's Resolutions concerning specific aspects of fisheries management and development. It agreed on the formats and periodicity of the progress reports on the implementation of the Strategy and the Programmes of Action to be submitted for consideration at its future sessions. It welcomed the information on trends and future prospects in world fisheries and requested that this information be submitted periodically for its review. The Committee considered the Report of the First Session of the COFI Sub- Committee on Fish Trade held in October 1986 and endorsed the Sub-Commitee's recommendations. The Committee discussed the activities and functions of FAO regional fishery bodies and agreed that the item should again be placed on the agenda for its Eighteenth Session. The Committee considered the recommendations of an Expert Consultation on the Technical Specifications for the Marking of Fishing Vessels held in June 1986, and reviewed information received from member countries, regional and international organizations regarding the protection of living resources from entanglement in fishing nets and debris. The Committee endorsed the strategies and priorities selected by the Director-General in the preparation of his Summary Programme of Work and Budget for 1988-89 and supported the Conclusions of the Programme Committee at its Fifty-second Session that the proposals for Major Programme 2.2 : Fisheries, responded to the needs of member countries. It unanimously agreed that the Summary Programme of Work and Budget provided a satisfactory basis for the formulation of the full Programme of Work and Budget in fisheries for 1988-89.

EIFAC reviewed in depth the status and future direction of the inland fisheries and aquaculture sectors of Europe. The session reviewed EIFAC's activities since 1992 in the fields of fishery biology and management, fish culture and diseases and water pollution control.

The Thirty-fifth Session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) was held in Rome, Italy, from 5 to 9 September 2022. This is a report of the Session reflecting the discussions which took place and containing all recommendations and decisions taken by the Committee. A synopsis of the outcome of the Session is presented in the abstract and all supplementary information is included in the appendixes.

The marking of fishing vessels is important for their identification, to support the global efforts to promote sustainable fisheries, for safety at sea and to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. For this reason, the FAO Standard Specifications for the Marking and Identification of Fishing Vessels were developed and endorsed by COFI in 1989 as a voluntary instrument providing a standardized system for the identification of fishing vessels operating, or likely to operate, in waters of another State. Global developments have had an impact on the usefulness of the FAO Standard Specifications, specifically the increased use of the International Maritime Organization number as a unique vessel identifier and the establishment of the FAO’s Global Record. This document provides background to the development of the FAO Standard Specifications and the results of a study to assess the level of their adoption at the national, regional and international levels. It also describes progress in the areas of vessel identity, vessel tracking, different vessel types and catch traceability and how these impact the usefulness of the FAO Standard Specifications. Finally, the document proposes a review and update of the FAO Standard Specifications.

The Committee reviewed the work carried out during the 2016-2017 intersession and addressed the mid-term strategy towards the sustainability of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries. It provided advice on data collection and quality indicators.