Committee for Inland Fisheries of Africa. CIFA. 1971. 

 European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission. EIFAC. 1957. 

 Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic. FCECA. 



(Also known by the acronym CECAF for Committee for Eastern 

 Central Atlantic Fisheries.) 1967. 

 General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean. GFCM. 1949. 

 Indian Ocean Fishery Commission. lOFC. 1967. 

 Indo-Pacific Fisheries Commission. IPFC. 1968. 

 International Commission for the Southeast Atlantic Fisheries. 



ICSEAF. 1972. 

 Southwest Atlantic Fisheries Advisory Commission. SWAFAC. 



(More commonly known by the initialism CARTAS for Comision 



Asesora Regional de Pesca para el Atlantic Sud-Occidental) . 



1961. 

 Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission. WECAFC. 1974. 



A Regional Fisheries Commission for Western Africa (RFCWA) has 

 been proposed. FAO also was responsible for negotiating the conven- 

 tion for the establishment of the International Commission for the 

 Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), an independent, regional, and 

 specialized fishery organization. 



21. UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND CULTURAL 



ORGANIZATION: UNESCO 



Organized in 1945 to promote collaboration among nations in 

 education, science, and culture, UNESCO is the parent agency for the 

 Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), which promotes 

 cooperation in the marine sciences and is described in greater detail 

 in entry 22. Within UNESCO headquarters is a Division of Marine 

 Sciences (formerly the Office of Oceanography). Before the estab- 

 lishment of IOC, UNESCO sponsored the International Advisory Commit- 

 tee on Marine Sciences (lACOMS), created in 1955 to consider the 

 U.N. role in marine sciences. lACOMS, comprising nine persons 

 appointed as representatives of the different areas of the world, 

 was severely handicapped: it had no charter or authority and was 

 limited in funds. It did, however, focus attention on marine sci- 

 ences and was instrumental in recommending the establishment of IOC. 



Proposals have been made to remove IOC from UNESCO and create an 

 independent U.N.-af filiated agency to handle marine sciences at the 

 international level, much as the World Meteorological Organization 

 (WMO)is responsible for meteorological activities at the inter- 

 national intergovernmental level. While such proposals have yet to 

 materialize, a title. World Oceanographic Organization (WOO), has 

 been suggested. 



UNESCO, through its Division of Marine Sciences, is involved in a 

 number of activities to strengthen marine research and marine insti- 

 tutions in its member states, to improve understanding of basic 

 marine systems, and to disseminate information. During the 1960's 

 and early 70' s UNESCO established and supported the operation of 

 three regional biological sorting centers: the Mexican Oceanic Sort- 

 ing Center (CPOM), the Indian Ocean Biological Center (lOBC), and the 

 Regional Marine Biological Center (RMBC) in Singapore. These were 

 established in conjunction with IOC cooperative investigations, and 

 UNESCO sponsored an Advisory Panel for International Marine Bio- 

 logical Centers to ensure the standardization of operating techniques 

 and to provide guidance in the selection of specialists working on 

 fraction collections. 



