MRA Online / Sunday, January 29, 2023

New theme for fisheries committee as it kicks off the New Year

Busy start for Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea

GHANA: January was a busy month for the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) having attended the Conferences of Ministers in Ghana where they chose a new theme for 2023. The first month of the year also saw the FCWC host a Ministerial Conference, participate in the development of a coordination framework and finalise the acceptance of the FCWC Regional MCS System

Attending the 14th session of the Conference of Ministers held in Accra, Ghana, from 11 – 13 January 2023, FCWC chose “Supporting effective fisheries management for a sustainable blue economy” as its 2023 Theme of the Year.

The Conference of Ministers brought together Ministers for fisheries or their representatives to review its annual report and adopt recommendations to promote the ongoing regional fisheries cooperation in the region.

FCWC Secretary-General, Seraphin Dedi, in his speech during the conference reiterated that cooperation and a regional approach are necessities for safeguarding existing resources and the development of the maritime economy, and blue growth in the region. Commenting on the theme he stated “[we] invite States to adopt the blue economy as a pillar of economic planning, development and investment in the fisheries sector and to ensure the alignment of national policies with the ECOWAS Comprehensive Strategic Framework for the Sustainability of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (CSFS-FAD), as well as the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 14) – aiming at the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for their sustainable development.”

The fisheries sector Ministers of Ghana, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, and Benin were physically present at the hybrid regional Ministerial meeting to adopt recommendations developed by the fisheries and aquaculture experts of the Advisory and Coordinating Committee (ACC) from the sessions held over the two days prior.

FCWC Secretary-General Seraphin Dedi, in his opening speech reiterated that cooperation and a regional approach are necessities for safeguarding existing resources and the development of the maritime economy, and blue growth in the region. Commenting on the theme of the year he stated “[we] invite States to adopt the blue economy as a pillar of economic planning, development and investment in the fisheries sector and to ensure the alignment of national policies with the ECOWAS Comprehensive Strategic Framework for the Sustainability of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (CSFS-FAD), as well as the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 14) – aiming at the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for their sustainable development.”

The conference concluded with the successful adoption of the 2023/2024 workplan and budget, the 2023 annual report including recommendations to:

Develop and implement a third phase of the Fisheries Intelligence and MCS Support in West Africa initiative.
Extend regional fisheries management measures like the closed season to all countries.
Support FCWC Member States to ratify ILO’s C188 to ensure decent work in the fisheries and aquaculture sector.
Request support for national aquaculture projects to JICA for the Member States without one
Start implementation of the marine spatial planning project in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) funded by Global Environment Fund (GEF).

The next conference will be held in Liberia.

Developing a coordination framework

The FCWC participated in the consultation organised in the framework of the initiative “Follow-up action to the 34th FAO Committee on Fisheries,” funded by the European Commission and the Government of Japan. in the Eastern Central Atlantic Ocean.

Cooperation is needed to create synergies, overcome inefficiency and develop regional coordination effectiveness.

A regional framework has been developed after review of the outcome of a survey of Regional Fishing Bodies’ activities in the region, and through cooperative identification of priority areas for technical cooperation and coordination.

The consultation’s participants included representatives from nine regional fisheries bodies including Benguela Current Convention (BCC), Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF), Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation among States Bordering the Atlantic (COMHAFAT/ATLAFCO), Commission Régionale des Pêches du Golfe de Guinée (COREP), FCWC, General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea (GFCM/FAO), Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC), International Commission for the Conservation, and other regional and international organizations including the African Union Interafrican Bureau on Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), International Whaling Commission (IWC), and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Acceptance of Regional MCS System

On 23 January 2023, representatives of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) and its partners TMT and the European Fisheries Control Authority (EFCA) began a three-day joint assessment process of the FCWC Regional MCS system with its service provider Xsealence Sea Technologies toward improving the regional vessel monitoring system (RVMS).

The representatives met to review changes, updates, and improvements to the Seasight RVMS software supplied as part of the supply contract between FCWC and Xsealence, under the European Union-funded Improved Regional Fisheries Governance (PESCAO) project.

Some key issues had been flagged to be addressed by the service provider. “The three-day meeting is meant to provide FCWC and member States with the opportunity to conduct a thorough review of the improved RVMS system as a final acceptance test of the acquired system,” said FCWC Secretary General Seraphin Dedi. The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) is a regional fisheries organisation with a membership of six West African countries: Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Togo. The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) was established in 2007. This is to facilitate cooperation in fisheries management among the member countries. The countries have several shared fish stocks and identified a need for cooperation and shared management of these resources.