News

West Africa Task Force meets in Côte d’Ivoire

The 1st Regional Training Workshop of the West Africa Task Force (WATF) was held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire 13-17 July, 2015.

The Honourable Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani, Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Resources of Côte d’Ivoire and Chairperson of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), opened the meeting and welcomed the opportunity offered for action against illegal fishing through the West Africa Task Force. ‘Our region cannot effectively fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing unless we work together. Without solidarity, without communication and without information sharing our efforts will be futile.’

Mr. Seraphin Dedi, Secretary General of the FCWC commented that ‘significant progress is being made; both through the establishment of national focal groups to facilitate greater inter-agency cooperation, and also with a new shared communication platform that will facilitate greater regional information exchange.’

Bringing together participants from FCWC countries: Benin, C´te d’Ivoire, Liberia and Nigeria with experts from,‚ Trygg Mat Tracking,‚ Stop Illegal Fishing‚ and NFDS, training sessions focussed on the procedures and processes used to investigate suspected illegal fishing. A visit to the Port of Abidjan enabled some practical exercises and training on vessel inspection of both purse seiners and reefers.

Further training is planned for WATF members Ghana and Togo, and a schedule of national consultations will be undertaken with all WATF member countries during the coming months.