FISHERIES COMMITTEE FOR THE WEST CENTRAL GULF OF GUINEA (FCWC)

ACHIEVEMENTS

Presented by

Rosina Williams

MONITORING CONTROL AND SURVEILLANCE(MCS), AN EFFECTIVE

TOOL TO FIGHT AGANINST IUU FISHING Marrakech, 27-28 October 2015

Introduction of the Committee

• Established as RFB by Convention of Cotonou, in November 2007

• The scope of application of FCWC is all marine waters under national jurisdiction of the six contracting Parties:

•

Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria,

Main challenges of the region The West Central Gulf of Guinea is not so productive, although

the population densities of the coastal countries are among the highest in the region,

Intensive fishing activities of foreign vessels,

Poor management of fisheries stocks,

Low participation of stakeholders in the fisheries management.

and IUU fishing activities and piracy are increasing .

The socio-economic consequences of this situation are serious

and include in particular, food insecurity, health problems, and

increased conflicts in the fisheries sector

OBJECTIVES • Promote cooperation among the

Contracting Parties with a view to ensuring the conservation and optimum utilization of the living marine resources.

• by encouraging definition of

common policies, strategies and systems for rational and sustainable management of fisheries resources

• Our long-term Vision is to work as: “An effective, vibrant, inclusive and participative organization for sustainable development of fisheries in the West Central Gulf of Guinea”

Focus Area 1 - Fisheries

policy, governance

Focus Area 2 - Conservation

and sustainability

Focus Area 3 - Improving small-scale

fisheries

Focus Area 4 - Improve

(MCS),

Focus Area 5 - Research in

fisheries

Focus Area 6 - Excellence in Management

THE FCWC STRATEGIC PLAN 2011- 2020

AREA 4 of FCWC Strategic plan

• Improve Monitoring, Control, Surveillance (MCS) and Compliance to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing

• The richness of fishing grounds and proximity to and ease of access to European market combined with weak MCS has lead to explosion of illegal fishing in the area.

• $1.6 billion loss to illegal fishing

• Strategic Goal

Enhance national capabilities for efficient, cost effective and sustainable fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance, and establishing mechanisms for effective regional cooperation in MCS and enforcement to stop illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the West Central Gulf of Guinea

Mechanisms for Effective Regional Cooperation in MCS to

Fight IUU

Strengthening of the regional legal framework to fight IUU fishing,

Develop regional plan of action to fight IUU in 2009

Establishment of Regional Working Group to combat IUU since 2010

convention of minimum requirements for access to the fishery resources of the area of FCWC, Dec. 2013

Convention on the pulling and sharing of information and data on the area of FCWC in 2014

Mechanism (Cont’d) Creation of regional fishing vessels registers

in the FCWC member countries, Assessment study on national vessel register

system in each country and training in 2011 Encouraging vessel lists sharing in the

implementation on the FCWC Convention on information

Development of a regional centre for processing and disseminating satellite data to fight IUU fishing.

Request for support made to donors and

partners still pending while concept note alrady available to be implemented.

Mechanism (Cont’d)

Awareness Campaigns

Flyers produced and gadgets

Contribution in AU- NEPAD African Voice in fisheries

Contribute in comprehensive studies on IUU activities in West Africa

Website developed for information sharing since 2008

CURRENT PROJECTS IMPLEMENTING

1/ AfDB support in 2015

• Duration of the assignment: a 10-month period from 5 January to 31 May 2015

• Start working on the document systems and processes for compliance with the EU IUU regulation

• Prepare matrix/table to assist the FCWC in supporting and monitoring progress of the PSMA’s ratification

• Provide general advice to the FCWC Secretariat in relation to the implementation of the PSMA in the sub-region

• And develop guideline to assist all Africa countries for compliance with the EU IUU regulation, to be adopted next 18-19 November 2015

2/ Fisheries Intelligence to support and plan MCS operations, funded by Norwegian Cooperation:

Crucially operationalises FCWC

Conventions and the MCS Working Group through ‘Fisheries Intelligence and MCS support in West Africa project’

The project’s over all objective is to contribute to more effective governance of regional fisheries resources in Western Africa through reduction of illegal fishing

Achievement under the Fisheries Intelligence to support and plan MCS operations :

National and regional training programme on combating

illegal fishing Represent FCWC member countries at regional and

international consultative meeting on combatting IUU activities: interpol FishCrime, Symposium of Stop Illegal Fisheries.

Develop framework to monitor fishing vessels in FCWC region to combat IUU fishing, such as WEST AFRICAN TASK FORCE to combat illegal fishing

Intelligence report on case such INTREPs

Sharing media summaries on stories related to fisheries in the region,

Sharing illegal vessel alerts

Build collaborative dialogue with other international stakeholders

Conclusion

• FCWC is fully establised with member Countries commitment. In particular to combate illegal fishing our mechanism is articulate on following points :

legal and administrative framework strenghtened on regular basis

National and regional vessel register improvement

Development of regional MCS center with satellite data

Campaign to develop awarness on the IUU fishing impact.

• Therefore we are seeking for further partnership and cooperation to achive our common goal in the fight againt IUU in the Atlantic region.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION