On 16 November 1994, the 1992 U.N. Law of the Sea Convention took effect. Progress is now evident in the implementation of Chapter 17 of Agenda 21, as reviewed by the 1997 UNGA Special Session. These developments and the establishment of the International Seabed Authority (ISBA) and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) make the continuation of the NILOS Documentary Yearbook, now in its 11th year, of particular significance in the years to come. The Yearbook compiles the documents related to ocean affairs and the law of the sea issued each year by organizations, organs, and bodies of the United Nations system. These include documents of the U.N. General Assembly, ECOSOC and its regional Commissions, the U.N. Secretary-General's Informal Consultations, PrepCom ISA/ITLOS, UNCED, UNEP and UNCTAD; followed by the documents of specialized agencies and other autonomous organizations of the U.N. system, including FAO, IAEA, ILO, IMO, UNESCO/IOC and WMO. The Yearbook reproduces in full documents issued in the course of the most recent year and lists other relevant documents. The NILOS Documentary Yearbook has proved of invaluable assistance in facilitating access by the community of scholars and practitioners in ocean affairs and the law of the sea to essential documentation.

The meeting was attended by six experts from the Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ) and by the consultant recruited for undertaking the evaluation. Initially only an external evaluation of the SIPAM network (Information System for the Promotion of Aquaculture in the Mediterranean) was recommended; subsequently, the call for a full external evaluation of CAQ, including all of its Networks, since its inception was requested by the Commission, in view of the forthcoming entry into force of the GFCM autonomous budget. The Meeting of Experts reviewed and summarized major achievements of CAQ and its networks.

An increasing number of commercially exploited and managed aquatic species has been listed in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), triggering the attention from the fisheries sector of States on how listing would impact on the management of the relevant fisheries. CITES regulates international trade in certain aquatic species, including those which are, and can be, commercially exploited and which are being managed by the fisheries sector. The fisheries sector legal frameworks will have to recognize and enable the various requirements provided for in CITES, including the making of non-detriment findings and ensuring that there is a designated management authority and scientific authority to take certain decisions in respect of listed commercially exploited and managed aquatic species. This sourcebook provides clarifications on the relationship of CITES with the fisheries sector and provides guidance on how national fisheries legal frameworks can optimize the implementation of CITES. The realisation of this sourcebook in 2020, designated as a “super year” for nature and biodiversity, represents a timely and useful contribution to fisheries management, by (i) raising awareness of CITES; (ii) enhancing comprehension of the CITES regime and its relationship with the fisheries sector and (iii) where a deliberate decision is made by a country to implement CITES through its national fisheries legal frameworks, providing guidance as to what do it and how to do it.

In recent years, an increasing number of commercially exploited and managed aquatic species, including sharks and rays, have been listed in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The listing of some species in CITES Appendix II has necessitated attention from the fisheries sector of States on how listing would impact on the management of the relevant fisheries. This sourcebook and the research process involved in its development highlighted the opportunity to implement CITES through national fisheries legal frameworks. Indeed, in certain cases, doing so can prove to be vital in giving practical effect to CITES while simultaneously enhancing fisheries management regimes and ensuring that all activities along the fisheries value chain, especially the international trade in CITES-listed aquatic species, are legal, traceable and sustainable. The study recognizes that communities operating within the CITES regime and in the fisheries sectors have their own particular areas of work. However, they should cooperate and coordinate their work where they share the common high-level objectives of ensuring responsible, legal and sustainable utilization of resources, including species, biodiversity and ecosystems, and implementing the relevant Sustainable Development Goals. This sourcebook was first published in 2020, designated as a "super year" for nature and biodiversity. The second edition of this sourcebook was developed to take into account and reflect the outcomes of the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES, in 2022. The sourcebook is a timely and useful contribution to fisheries management as it seeks to provide support in: (i) raising awareness of CITES; (ii) enhancing comprehension of the CITES regime and its relationship with the fisheries sector; and (iii) where a deliberate decision is made by a country to implement CITES through its national fisheries legal frameworks, providing guidance on what to do and how to do it.