In-depth MCS review held in the Gambia
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has recently conducted a detailed review of the system for fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) in the Gambia together with the Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters. The review took place between 13 and 17 March 2023.
The five-day in-depth review examined activities of the fisheries sector, national and foreign fleets, known activities of IUU fishing threatening sustainable fisheries, the MCS and enforcement framework, and the operations of the Gambia’s Fisheries Monitoring Center.
Furthermore, the MCS review team, consisting of FAO specialists and members of the Gambia’s MCS Unit in the Department of Fisheries, had a close look at the setup of the MCS system with its dedicated human resources, information collecting mechanisms as well as means and assets. The review focused on capacity and training needs and a need to develop a number of standard operating procedures.
The MCS review identified recommendations on strengthening the MCS system that will feed into the further capacity development in the Gambia under the Port State Measures Support Project (GCP/GLO/1047/GER) funded by the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ) under the auspices of FAO’s Global PSMA Capacity Development Programme.
This detailed review of the current MCS system in the Gambia was the third activity under the Port State Measures Support Project and followed a needs assessment workshop and a combined legal review and interagency workshop, held in June and November 2022. The project activities aim at assisting the Gambia in strengthening its capacity to effectively implement the 2009 Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) and complementary international instruments and regional mechanisms to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.