He said the revised Chapeau had been accepted in its entirety. One member of the Like-Minded core group congratulated the Bureau on crystallizing, succinctly, the many complex ideas in a document that could be usefully passed back to the Plenary to develop further, because some of the explicit technical language invoked political connotations. Another delegate said that unless important conceptual issues were reflected accurately, the Plenary would not have a comprehensive technical text upon which to proceed. He said it was essential to include precautionary measures that covered the entire range of a stock and that the entire stock area needed recognition both technically and biologically. He urged strengthening the concept of uncertainty, which is essential to precaution.
Bycatch needs minimizing but clearly it is impossible to eliminate.
A Like-Minded core group member said he could not accept generalized references to ecosystems. A member of the Like-Minded core group said Rev.2 was not just a summary of a good discussion, but it had sufficient content to go forward to the Plenary as a consensus document from the Working Group. A delegate suggested several minor amendments that could bring Rev.2 closer to consensus. A DWF State said that he did not disagree with the text, but some of the sense of the text had been lost through editing. Recognizing the deadline set by the Plenary, delegates accepted an assurance by the Chair that some modifications to Rev.2 would be made by the Bureau prior to circulation in the Plenary today.