Addressing the ongoing fishing crisis
Experts meet to discuss IUU fishing in West Africa
CÔTE D’IVOIRE: Despite efforts to address Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU) in West Africa, the problem remains an ongoing concern for the region and experts are currently meeting in the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to develop a cooperation framework to improve the sustainable and integrated use of ocean resources.
Estimates indicate that up to 40% of catches in parts of the Gulf of Guinea may be illegal, and IUU fishing costs the economies of countries in the region billions of dollars each year. The region is estimated to lose between $2.3 billion and $9.4 billion annually, according to a Financial Transparency Coalition report cited in the January 2024 Africa Defence Forum.
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a major scourge that undermines stock management efforts, exacerbates overfishing, destroys marine habitats, and degrades the coastal environment.
Despite the efforts undertaken by ECOWAS through the adoption of two documents, notably the Integrated Maritime Strategy (SMIC) of 2014 and the Detailed Strategic Framework for the Development of a Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector of 2020, the problem of IUU fishing remains current.\
Working towards a solution, the ECOWAS Commission was instructed to create a strengthened framework for the fight against IUU fishing and to initiate discussions with external partners with a view to combating IUU fishing and the dumping of toxic materials associated with it in the regional maritime domain.
This is the rationale for the Abidjan meeting which started today, which is being attended by experts from member states’ maritime, fisheries, environmental, and maritime affairs departments.
The meeting will also be attended by ECOWAS Technical Departments and Directorates, including Peacekeeping and Regional Security, Agriculture and Environment, as well as regional organizations such as the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Fisheries Committee of the West Central Gulf of Guinea, and the Senegalese Fisheries Commissions.
During the three days of consultation, the participants will develop a roadmap to facilitate the harmonisation of national fisheries laws. This will take into account, among other things, the cooperation mechanism for sharing information, the framework for collaboration on the pooling of financial and human resources, ways to increase the financial resources allocated to the fight against illegal fishing, the establishment of a platform for sharing experiences and lessons learned to disseminate good practices in the region and the harmonisation of the collection of statistics.
PHOTO: Adobe Photostock
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