SEAFDEC Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center
Mr. Mahesh Pradhan, Coordinator of the Coordination Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) Regional Seas Branch, Ecosystems Division, visited the SEAFDEC Secretariat on 23 December 2025. During discussions with the SEAFDEC Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General, and senior officials of the Secretariat and the Training Department (TD), Mr. Pradhan provided an overview of COBSEA, which comprises nine Member Countries—seven ASEAN Member States, together with China and the Republic of Korea—and covers six large marine ecosystems.
The key thematic areas addressed by COBSEA include: (i) pollution, covering issues such as abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), ghost gear, marine plastic pollution, and nutrient management; (ii) marine ecosystems, including marine protected areas (MPAs), habitat protection, and marine spatial planning; and (iii) ocean and climate actions. The discussion also covered areas of common interest between COBSEA and SEAFDEC, including ALDFG, in which SEAFDEC is planning to organize a symposium in March 2026, as well as broader environmental and biodiversity-related issues with potential implications for fisheries, such as other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) and biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).
