With over 50 registered speakers and participants representing at least 32 organizations from 14 countries and four continents, the International GoF Conference held at Texel 3-5 February 2017 was a great success.
Speakers and participants represented a wide field of expertise, ranging from marine biology and fisheries science to criminal justice, law of the sea, situational crime prevention, food quality and animal welfare. Represented were the key NGOs, political bodies linked with the EU, African organizations, fisheries research scientists, the fishing industry, World Bank, private consultants and a range of universities. Key notes and plenary presentation were invariably of high quality, providing a wealth of information and context for what must be seen as a global problem, affecting (local) economies and ecosystems alike: the numerous forms of illegal, or unreported, or unregulated (usually termed as IUU) fisheries around the world.
A significant achievement was the mutual understanding that developed when the represented principal investigators (the academic world) and high-ranking managers (industry, NGOs and policy) from widely different fields of expertise shared their experiences and knowledge. The atmosphere was friendly, still critical, but above all constructive. The conference was concluded with several in-depth discussions, leading to concrete research proposals, new collaborations, and a series of publications on which several newly formed teams of experts from highly different signatures will work in the coming months.
Registered participants and speakers: Alexandre Rodríguez (EU/LDAC, Spain), Amandine van den Berghe (NSCR, B), Ana Almeida (SPEA, Portugal), André Dijkstra (NIOZ, NL), Andrew Lemieux (NSCR, NL), Andrew Serdy (Southampton Law School, UK), Annemieke Pustjens (RIKILT/Wageningen, NL), Cathelijne Schoonenberg (Netherlands Public Prosecutors Office, NL), Catrien Bijleveld (NSCR, NL), Cetin Keskin (Instanbul University, Turkey), Christine Absil (Good Fish Foundation, NL), Dana Miller (Oceana, Ireland), Daniel Pauly (Sea Around Us, Canada), Djiga Thiao (CRODT, Senegal), Eszter Hidas (WWF Europe, B), Eva Romée van der Marel (Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea, Norway), Gerard van Balsfoort (Pelagic Freezer-Trawler Association, NL), Gert van Santen (World Bank, NL), Gohar Petrossian (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, USA), Grant Humphries (Black Bawks Data Science, UK), Guido Leurs (Wageningen University, NL), Han Lindeboom (Wageningen University, NL), Hebo Peng (NIOZ, China), Henk van der Veer (NIOZ, NL), Howard Browman (ICES J. Mar. Sc., Norway), Joeri Scholtens (Amsterdam University, NL), José Antionio Infiesta Alemany (Oceana, Spain), Justin Kurland (Rutgers School Criminal Justice, USA), Justine Dossa (BirdLife International, Senegal), Kees Camphuysen (NIOZ, NL), Kees Lankester (Scomber, NL), Maarten Bavinck (Amsterdam University, NL), Manuel Barange Corachan (FAO, Rome), María Jóse Cornax (Oceana, Spain), Mattias Wengelin (Safe Waters Foundation, Sweden), Max Wastiaux (Amsterdam University, NL), Nancy Clark (World Animal Protection, UK), Nick van Doormaal (NSCR, NL), Patricia Vogel (NWO, NL), Pavel Klinckhamers (Greenpeace, NL), Peter Horn (Pew Charitable Trusts, UK), Pim Visser (VisNed, NL), Remy Käller (Amsterdam University, NL), Ron Clarke (Rutgers School Criminal Justice, USA), Sylvia Kubicz (Prosecutor Dutch North Sea Office, NL), Tamar Stelling (De Correspondent, NL), Thomas Oudman (NIOZ, NL), Threes Schreurs (NIOZ, NL), Tim de Wet (Safe Waters Foundation, Sweden), Victoria Mundy (EU IUU NGO coalition, B), and Wim Huisman (Free University Amsterdam, NL).
Acknowledgements
I would like to take the opportunity to thank André Dijkstra, Hebo Peng, Threes Schreurs (all for NIOZ), and Amandine van den Berghe and Nick van Doormaal (NSCR) for their hard work on the background to help organize the logistics and to make all participants feel at home. A very great thank you also to Frida Kraanen for here organizational talents and hard work to make the conference a success and get all the speakers here, to Ingrid de Raad for managing the website, to Meta van der Wal for her help with bookings, and to Bert Aggenbach for his help with poster boards and explanations, Ruud Boom and workers for excellent food, Maarten Brugge for superior hotel facilities…..and I hope I didn’t forget anyone.
Kees Camphuysen & Andrew Lemieux
