The West Africa Task Force (WATF) of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) held their fifteenth Task Force meeting in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, on the 11 – 12 December 2023 to continue building cooperation in the regions’ fisheries. The Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Animal and Fisheries Resources (MIRAH), Min. Sidi Touré, opening statement was delivered by his representative Colonel Alain Kodjo.

During the two-day meeting various presentations were shared including national updates, overviews of each WATF country since the last task force meeting and also discussed regional cooperation and collaboration in MCS enforcement. A range of regional partners attending the meeting as well as the technical team members of the WATF Stop Illegal Fishing and TM-Tracking.

SIF’s technical fisheries expert Sandy Davies delivered presentations on some of the work that Stop Illegal Fishing is doing to support the WATF, including preparing a Sustainability Plan for the FCWC’s Regional MCS Centre and an update of the FCWC regional strategy to combat illegal transshipment in the FCWC region.

The FCWC is a regional fisheries organisation with a membership of six West African countries: Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Togo. The FCWC was established in 2007 to facilitate cooperation in fisheries management among the member countries. The countries have several shared fish stocks and identify a need for cooperation and shared management of these resources.