The 12th Meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Regional Technical Team (RTT) for the SADC Fisheries Monitoring Control and Surveillance Coordination Centre (MCSCC) was held 12-15 December 2022 in Victoria, Seychelles.  This was an important meeting as the SADC Charter for establishing the fisheries MCSCC only requires one more signature from a SADC Member State to enter into force.  The Charter is signed by Angola, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia. Two thirds of the SADC Member States are required to sign the Charter for it to enter into force.  It is anticipated that the Charter will come into force in early 2023.

The SADC Secretariat together with Member States met with the Honorable Minister of Fisheries and Blue Economy, Jean-Francois Ferrari to discuss Seychelles signing of the Charter.  The meeting had successful deliberations and the Honorable Minister confirmed that Seychelles intend to sign the Charter in early 2023.

During the meeting, Member States and partners, including Stop Illegal Fishing, discussed regional port State measures implementation, establishment of a regional register of fishing vessels, regional vessel monitoring system planning and other operational issues.  Preparations for the Charter to come into force was also an important discussion point as this will transform the present interim project management unit into a permanent structure for the centre.  The agenda included the introduction of the “SADC Atlantic” project funded by the US Government and implemented by Stop Illegal Fishing, to support the SADC MCSCC to enhance cooperation as well as to build national MCS capacity with a focus on Angola, Namibia and South Africa.