Cook Islands National Plan of Action to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (NPOA-IUU).

This Cook Islands National Plan of Action to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (NPOA-IUU) is based on the FAO International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IPOA-IUU) within the framework of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The Cook Islands NPOA-IUU closely follows the structure of the IPOA-IUU. It provides a profile of the Cook islands fisheries sector (also of among other things, institutions, regulatory framework and international arrangements), sets out economic policy and management objectives for the fisheries sector and proposes concrete measures principally in the field of management and conservation of fish resources.
The fisheries sector of Cook Islands can be divided into three broad sub-sectors: Lagoon and Inshore; Offshore; and Aquaculture. Policy objectives include: Long term conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources, and to this end adopt management measures which promote the objective of optimum utilization to achieve economic growth, food security, human resource development, employment creation and sound ecological balance; To promote and expand sustainable competitive exports of marine products by implementing appropriate fisheries management plans developed in partnership with the private sector; To encourage local value adding and downstream processing with the aim of maximising the value of marine products.
The measures and statements of intention of this NPOA-IUU concern, among other things - monitoring, Control and Surveillance; international cooperation (in particular with RFMOs) to comply with conservation measures; catch documentation Schemes; cooperation with port States/through RFMOs; authorised ports; denial of port entry; measures to control transport and re-supply vessels; other port state measures; fishing vessel registration; record of fishing vessels; trade-related measures.