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The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) Moves Forward in the Fight against IUU Fishing
In December 2009 the Ministers in charge of fisheries of the member countries of the Fisheries Committee of the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) declared their commitment on combating Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing. The declaration included a mandate for the Secretariat General of the FCWC to take all the necessary measures for the implementation of the regional plan of action to combat IUU fishing. In carrying out the FCWC€™s mandate, Seraphin Nadje Dedi (the Secretary General) successfully managed to convene the first working group meeting on combating IUU fishing from the 28th to 30th of April in Accra Ghana. All national representatives from Benin, Ghana, C´te d’Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, and Togo attended the meeting, in addition to participants from the FAO, Stop Illegal Fishing and the International MCS Network.
The objective of the three day meeting, which also included a study tour to the Tema Harbour, was to formally establish the FCWC working group so as to; consider ways to improve Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS); regional cooperation; and improved governance of the regions fisheries resources in the context of IUU fishing in the sub-region.
Presentations from national representatives, at the meeting revealed shared issues with regard to IUU fishing. These included the use of illegal fishing gear, un-authorised fishing and catch not being reported (partially through the use of transhipment at sea). The working group acknowledged that the full extent of the IUU activity in the region was poorly understood due to the inherent problems associated with this crime. As a priority action the working group agreed that the development of a regional vessel register, through harmonized national registers and information sharing would be required. The other key priority emerged as the need to support and facilitate capacity building of MCS staff of the member states.
The significant achievements of the meeting resulted in the recognition that the FCWC€™s Secretariat should move forward by;
€ Facilitating the development of a coherent plan for the region based on various sources such as the RPOA-IUU, Ministers Declaration and the strategic plan in order to create a common regional approach to tackling IUU fishing at both policy and operational levels;
€ Facilitating the development of a regional vessel registry, based on harmonised national registries and to seek support for this process;
€ Supporting the development of required agreements between members to facilitate cooperation and information sharing of MCS information;
€ Creating awareness and to facilitate support to countries to sign and implement the PSMA;
€ Facilitating the identification of funding mechanisms for support to MCS capacity building at a national and regional level; and
€ Identifying funding mechanisms to strengthen the capacity of the secretariat.
Stop Illegal Fishing is pleased to be a partner to the FCWC and will continue to support both the Secretariat and the member states in this important work towards combating IUU fishing in west Africa.