Harmonising policy key to regional fisheries management

Fisheries Committee meets for high level discussions

LIBERIA: Concluding today, the 15th session of the Conference of Ministers of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) has provided the six member states with the opportunity to harmonise policy and identify actions to preserve fisheries stocks as well as develop aquaculture in the region.

The meeting began with the Advisory and Coordinating Committee (ACC) meeting, a session that brings together one of the FCWC’s three organs to advance the activities of the organisation in regional fisheries cooperation.

Welcoming delegates on behalf of Liberia’s National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority Director-General, William Boeh, Emma Glassco, (Deputy Director General) reiterated the country’s commitment to collaboration in regional fisheries discussions. Liberia will assume the FCWC Chairmanship.

Emphasising the need for member countries to adopt closed seasons, the Executive Director of Ghana’s Fisheries Commission, and current ACC Chairperson, Dir Fred Antwi-Boadu, highlighted the importance of collaboration within the region, noting that it is imperative for achieving long-term sustainability.

The Ministers of the six FCWC Member States (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Togo) attended the meeting organised on the theme “Promoting Decent Work and Strengthening the Marine Ecosystem Resilience for the Sustainability of the Fisheries Sector.”

“This fifteenth session of the FCWC Conference of Ministers is significant for many reasons. Firstly, it will allow us to review the extraordinary period since the last Conference of Ministers in 2023. These two years have been marked by substantial progress at the national and regional levels – the elimination of a notorious form of transshipment, joint regional fisheries patrols, the implementation of the first-ever transboundary fisheries closed season, and a joint patrol in support of this measure to name a few. It is essential for us to highlight and celebrate these while examining the opportunities we have as a region to advance further,” said FCWC Secretary-General Dr Antoine Gaston Djihinto.

The FCWC is an intergovernmental body established in 2007, with a Secretariat hosted in Tema, Ghana. The FCWC facilitates cooperation in fisheries management between its member countries: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Togo. The countries have several shared fish stocks and identified the need for cooperation and shared management of these resources.