FAO Fisheries & Aquaculture FISHERY RESOURCES MONITORING SYSTEM, About FIRMS

FIRMS Components

FIRMS Steering Committee (FSC)

is constituted by representatives of the Partners: one member nominated by each partner, including FAO in its capacity of partner. The FSC technical and Administrative responsibilities are described in the Article 5 of the FIRMS Partnership Arrangement. The FSC's Rules of procedures were adopted at the launching meeting of FIRMS (Rome, February 2004).

FIRMS Secretariat

is provided by FAO. The responsibilities of the Secretariat are described in the Article 3 of the FIRMS Partnership Arrangement.

FIRMS Technical working group

The general mandate of the FIRMS technical working group is to consider technical issues and make recommendations on matters of a purely technical nature. This working group convened by the Secretariat will work through correspondence and hold a meeting, if necessary.

Partnership Arrangement

FIRMS is operated under a Partnership Arrangement which was launched in February 2004 upon signature of the Arrangement by the first five FIRMS Partners. The Partnership was launched with FAO and regional fishery body institutions. It will be opened at a later stage to national institutions. The FIRMS Partnership Arrangement specifies the rights and obligations of the Partners and the rules driving the partnership.

The FIRMS Information Management Policy defines the principles and conditions governing the sharing of information contributed by the various Partners within FIRMS.

Fisheries and Resources Monitoring System