A new live avatar interviewer recruitment platform designed for merchant shipping and the wider maritime industry, has been launched to help employers recruit qualified seafarers faster, while maintaining rigorous standards of safety, verification and competence.

SIERRA LEONE: Reprocessing projects for offshore acreage have commenced to support efficient screening, early-stage evaluation and target prioritization across Sierra Leone’s high-potential basin.

SEYCHELLES: Discussions during a visit by a Russian delegation could strengthen maritime partnerships between Russia and the Seychelles as the two countries enhance travel links and diplomatic ties.

SOUTH AFRICA: The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has announced the increase of the sardine total allowable catch (TAC) for the areas West of the Cape Agulhas.

NIGERIA: Working to progress efforts to track authorised fishing vessels operating in West Africa, the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) convened a workshop on the Regional Record of Authorised Fishing Vessels (RRAFV) in Lagos, Nigeria last week.

SOUTH AFRICA: Inadequate fishing equipment, limited processing and storage infrastructure, insufficient access to funding, costly and lengthy licensing processes, poor road infrastructure, limited access to formal markets, uncertainty around fishing rights and land ownership, as well as complex regulatory requirements have all been identified as barriers currently facing rural fishing communities.

SOUTH AFRICA: The South African National Parks (SANParks) has recorded encouraging results in the latest African penguin census that shows a slight increase in breeding pairs at the Boulders colony in the Table Mountain National Park.

SOUTH AFRICA: Speaking at the Rural Oceans Economy Indaba 2026, Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Narend Singh confirmed that the long-awaited Oceans Economy Master Plan (OEMP) is nearing finalisation.