About Us

Since 2018, scientists and policymakers from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have met to discuss cooperative fisheries management in the South China Sea. We call ourselves the South China Sea Fisheries Science Working Group (FSWG).
 

Together, we undertook a Common Fisheries Resource Analysis (CFRA) on an important transboundary stock: skipjack tuna. Skipjack tuna is listed as a “highly migratory” species under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and signatory states are therefore obliged to cooperatively manage such stocks.
 

In September 2022, we publicly launched the results of the 1st CFRA in cooperation with the Philippine National Fisheries Research & Development Institute (NFRDI). The then-National Security Adviser of the Philippines gave the keynote address, and the event took place simultaneously in Manila and Beijing.
 

The FSWG demonstrates the region's capacity to work together despite political sensitivities. In addition to Skipjack Tuna, we have started our cooperative analysis of the transboundary species of Little Tuna and Squid. Our aim is to support governments in creating a comprehensive picture of the health of key species in the South China Sea. This scientific evidence can then form the basis of effective regional action.