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SIF at UNOC3 in Nice – joining the call for action to protect our fisheries
The high-level 2025 United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development (the 2025 UN Ocean Conference) reminded the world of the importance to act for the sustainability of our oceans.
“Accelerating action and mobilising all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean” was the theme of the Conference, which aimed to support further and urgent action to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development and identify further ways and means to support the implementation of SDG 14.
This call for collective action resonates strongly with strategies implemented in various regions on the African continent to protect fisheries for the benefit of all, with one of their priorities being to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Regional cooperation is central to efforts in Southern and West Africa to strengthen Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) capacity of fishing fleets. Sharing of information and intelligence on fishing vessels and operations amongst Member States within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) regions have been instrumental in identifying risks and suspicious activity, empowering national MCS officers to take action against illegal operators. This sharing of information is central to several FAO instruments, as FAO Assistant Director General and Director of its Fisheries and Aquaculture Division Manuel Barrange reminded during the event, including the Port State Measures Agreement, the first binding global instrument to combat IUU fishing.
“Madagascar never works alone, partnerships are key to combat IUU fishing”, H.E. Minister for Fisheries and the Blue Economy Paubert Mahatante said during the Conference.
To accelerate actions against IUU fishing, scaling up those successful models would be a positive next step, both by mobilising more regions and more actors. In Nice, the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC), a regional fisheries advisory body covering the Atlantic countries from Mauritania to Sierra Leone, showed that this movement is already under way. Like the FCWC and the SADC, the SRFC, too, is actively engaged in strengthening MCS cooperation and harmonisation amongst its Member States. This commitment was emphasised by the event’s high-level speakers, including Ministers from Sierra Leone and the Gambia, who made concrete recommendations on how to level up this partnership. The commission is working on strong measures, including the establishment of a regional register of fishing vessels and the setting of harmonised conditions of access throughout the SRFC waters.
Given the ongoing developments of similar processes in both SADC and FCWC, there is strong potential to go beyond intra-regional cooperation towards pan-African inter-regional cooperation, sharing information as well as lessons learned throughout the continent.
Accelerating pan-African collaboration to meet Africa’s Sustainable Blue Economy Aspirations was also the topic of the side event convened by the African Union during the UNOC. Their objective: sounding a Call for Action that articulates Africa’s collective commitment to developing her blue economy in a sustainable and equitable way.
This third UN Oceans Conference provided a platform to enhance the visibility of efforts and successes on the African continent to protect our fisheries and showed that acceleration to scale up efforts is already underway.