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Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs hold Environment, Science, Technology and Health Workshop
FISH-i Africa was invited to present at the Ocean Session of the Environment, Science, Technology and Health (ESTH) Workshop organised by the United States (U.S.) Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES), held in Gaborone, Botswana on the 7th June 2017.
The workshop was attended by Foreign Service officers from all over Africa dedicated to environment, science, technology, and health policy, and addressed issues such as wildlife trafficking and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Foreign Service officers located in embassies around the world focus on ESTH issues within their bilateral diplomatic relationships. They engage on the full range of OES issues, such as, oceans and fisheries; cooperation on satellites and global positioning systems; health policy; bilateral science cooperation; conservation; protection of marine mammals and wildlife; water; environmental standards, climate change and renewable energy, among others. ESTH officers cooperate with nongovernmental organizations to raise awareness of ESTH issues, and promote good environmental governance and public participation.
The Oceans Session was facilitated by Ms Karen Bel, the Regional Environment Hub Officer for West and Central Africa at the U.S. Embassy in Accra. Ms Bel stated that increased recognition of the important work that fisheries professionals do, and focussed capacity building, would go a long way towards solving the problem of illegal fishing.
Also presenting at the Oceans Session was Kofi Agbogah, Chief of Party of the Hen Mpoano Project in Ghana. Mr Agbogah described the illegal transhipment which is occurring in Ghana. He noted improved governance as key to improving the situation in Ghana and on the continent.
The FISH-i Africa Task Force was presented by Mark Ssemakula. FISH-i Africa brings together eight countries of the Western Indian Ocean, and focuses on building a regional information sharing and cooperation that tackles illegal fishing. Using cases from the recently published Illegal Fishing? Evidence and Analysis to illustrate the various challenges faced by and successes achieved in the fight against illegal fishing and fisheries related crime in the Western Indian Ocean, Mr Ssemakula stated “it’s great to have the opportunity to showcase the findings and success of FISH-i; many of the benefits that have come from FISH-i have been driven by adopting a regional approach and providing on the ground support as and when it is required. These are lessons that can be replicated in many contexts and regions to tackle the challenges of environmental crime.”