A three-day workshop was held in South Africa, Cape Town on the 16-18 April 2024 to support an integrated approach to three key international treaties related to legal, safe and fair fisheries: the FAO’s Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA), the International Maritime Organization’s 2012 Cape Town Agreement (CTA), and the International Labor Organization’s Work in Fishing Convention No. 188 (C188) – collectively known as the Three Treaties.

This workshop was a first for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and as such a pioneer offering lesson learning for other countries. The SADC Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Coordination Centre (MCSCC) aims for the PSMA, the CTA and the C188 to be implemented cooperatively and systematically across all ports within the region to protect SADC’s ports, fishery value chain, markets, legitimate operators from illegal products and players, and to pave the way for sustainable blue growth. South Africa being one of the few countries globally, and the only country within the SADC, to ratify all three instruments supplies them with the experiences and skills that allow them to act as a regional pioneer, providing expertise to other countries, demonstrating its benefits, and providing a port state perspective on ensuring legal, safe, and fair fisheries.

Stop Illegal fishing supported the workshop, which was organised by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with risk assessment and boarding inspection training and practical work. Per Erik Bergh and JD Kotze, SIF representatives, provided information and training in respect to implementation of the three treaties implementation, focusing on the policy, legal frameworks, technical support, national cooperation, information exchange, procedures and tools. This was followed by a port visit to apply the application of risk assessment and inspection.