In order to ensure that the conclusions and recommendations it developed for the Task Force were robust, the Task Force Secretariat established four small peer review groups covering legal, scientific, economics and trade and management/enforcement issues. Each group was formed of around six leading international experts in their respective fields. The objective was to expose the thinking of the Secretariat to panels of experts who could bring a professional, independent eye to bear on these highly complex issues. The working groups acted as peer review groups to critique the analyses and conclusions proposed for consideration by the Task Force and as advisory bodies on specific aspects of the work of the Task Force. The Task Force did not ask the experts to endorse its conclusions, but for their frank professional opinion. Responsibility for the final recommendations remained with the Task Force members.

 

ENFORCEMENT AND MANAGEMENT WORKING GROUP

Chair : Michele Kuruc - Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation - NOAA, USA
- Dr. Denzil Miller - Executive Secretary - CCAMLR, Australia
- Alejandro Covarrubias - Jefe del Departamento de Fiscalización - Sernapesca, Chile
- Steve Stuart -Manager, National Operations - Ministry of Fisheries - New Zealand
- Eugene F. Proulx - Retired Agent of NOAA - USA
- Mike Sutton - Vice President and Director of the Center for the Future of the Oceans - Monterey Bay Aquarium, USA
- Austin Jones - Director - Surveillance Operations Co-ordinating Unit (SOCU) - Gambia
- Marcel Kroese - Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism - South Africa
-Terje Lobach -Senior Legal Adviser - Department of Legal Matters and Fishing Activity - Norway
-Richard McLoughlin - Managing Director - Australian Fisheries Management Authority - Australia

ECONOMICS AND TRADE WORKING GROUP

Chair: Prof. Geoffrey Heal - Director, Economy Environment and Society - The Earth Institute at Columbia Univesity, USA
- Barry Kaufmann - Consultant - Canada
- Prof. Rashid Hassan - Director - Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa (CEEPA) - University of Pretoria, South Africa
- Prof. James E. Wilen - Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics - University of California, Davis, USA
- Ms. Anna Willock - Senior Fisheries Adviser - Traffic Oceania - Australia
- Mr. Carl-Christian Schmidt - Head of Unit - OECD Fisheries Division - France
- Mr. Vangelis Vitalis - Senior Negotiator and Deputy Director - Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand.

LEGAL WORKING GROUP

Chair: Gudmundur Eiriksson - Director of International Law and Human Rights Studies - Univestity of Peace, Costa Rica
- Moritaka Hayashi - Professor - Waseda University, Japan
- Prof. Robin Churchill - Dean and Director of the LL.M in Legal Aspects of Marine Affairs - Cardiff Law School, Wales
- Ambassador Satya Nandan - Secretary-General - International Seabed Authority (ISA), Jamaica
- Olav Schram Stokke - Senior Research Fellow - The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway
- Greg French - Legal Adviser - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia
- Jorge Berguño - Coordinator of the National Antarctic Programme - Council for Antartic Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Chile

SCIENTIFIC WORKING GROUP

Chair: Dr. Keith Sansbury - CSIRO Marine Research, Australia
- Prof. John Beddington - Head of Department of Applied Population Biology - Imperial College London, UK
- Prof. Andy Rosenberg - Professor of Natural Resources and EOS - University of New Hampshire, USA
- Prof. Douglas Butterworth - Professor in Applied Mathematics - University of Cape Town, South Africa
- Dr. Andrew Constable - Principal Research Scientist - Australian Antarctic Division, Hobart, Australia
- Simon Cripps - Head of Marine Programme - WWF International - Switzerland
- Alain Fonteneau - IRD Unité de Recherche N.109 - Centre de Recherche Halieutique Méditerranéenne et Tropicale - France