FAO and regional partners contribute to science-based fisheries management across West Africa
European Union-funded programme improves marine resources management in regional marine and coastal ecosystems.
Abuja, 3-5 April – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has joined efforts with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union (EU) [GJ(1] [MS(2] to halt Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and promote fisheries knowledge under the Improved regional fisheries governance in Western Africa (PESCAO) [GJ(3] [SM4] EU-funded programme. As part of this initiative, more than 80 experts gathered in Abuja, Nigeria, to draw a roadmap for a knowledge-driven fisheries resource management system in the ECOWAS maritime domain. Participants ranged from various Directors of Fisheries and aquaculture, national research institutes, sub-regional organizations, development partners, non-state actors, the EU, West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and FAO.
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing is a significant problem in West Africa and has been associated with overfishing, depletion of fish stocks and economic losses to coastal communities. Under ECOWAS’s Framework of Regional Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP) Comprehensive Strategic Framework for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (CSFS-FAD), with continued support from the European Union and FAO, participants collectively agreed that:
- national ministries, research institutes, and academia must maintain and expand the platform and networks from the PESCAO programme and connect to ECOWAS frameworks;
- the collective implementation of a tri-partite Memorandum of Understanding between the two regional fishery bodies and ECOWAS potentially facilitated by FAO CECAF must be carried out; and
- additional financial and technical support to fishery non-state actor platforms in West Africa must be provided.
“By leveraging the expertise of the various institutions, regional organizations, and communities in the West Africa region, we set the narrative for fisheries governance and ensure that these vital resources are managed sustainably across the ECOWAS maritime domain and beyond,” said Amadou Tall, PESCAO Programme Team Leader.
The evidence-based approaches prompted by PESCAO and the outcomes of the Abuja regional meeting considers the latest scientific knowledge crucial to achieving sustainable fisheries across West Africa.
The PESCAO knowledge driven approach
FAO, Institut Agro, and the University of Portsmouth lead the projects of PESCAO Component 3. Under PESCAO, the projects have enhanced collaboration between fisheries research and fisheries actors across West Africa.
Under the supervision of Institut Agro, the Demersal Ecosystems Project (DEMERSTEM) project aims to improve science-based approaches focused on stock assessment. Throughout the four years of the project, fisheries science partners from Mauritania, Senegal, Guinée Bissau, Guinee, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Spain, Italy and France participated in meetings and training sessions to update regional knowledge on stock assessment process.
A set of new methods have been benchmarked to evaluate their suitability to regional stocks regarding data availability or not. Other results concerning Stock identification, Sensitive habitat assessment, artisanal fisheries monitoring or ecosystem knowledge will be disseminated during the meeting.DEMERSTEM results will be applied to better link regular stock assessment meetings that occur within the CECAF framework.
Led by the University of Portsmouth, the Fisheries Management and Resilience of Small Pelagics in West Africa project (GREPPAO) holds three components: research, articulation between research and public policy and training.
GREPPAO has published national and regional reports and 32 scientific articles on the issues of fish consumption in West Africa, on the economics of pelagic fish and on the issue of migratory fisheries and organized six policy driven workshops. The issues dealt with food security, wealth creation and the development of migratory fisheries in the region. Furthermore, six training workshops were organized to strengthen the capacity of researchers in socio-economic data and scientific publications.
The Committee for the Central and Eastern Atlantic (CECAF), CECAF-PESCAO provided support to the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) member countries, paying attention to artisanal fisheries. FAO addressed the challenges of integrating CECAF fisheries management recommendations into national processes in Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Liberia. Additionally, CECAF-PESCAO collaborated on data and information sharing procedures between FAO, the FCWC, and national fisheries ministries. The project also, conducted a regional literature review on fisheries publications in selected countries was conducted, all the while, paying attention to the small-scale fisheries under the CECAF Artisanal Fisheries Working Group and participatory management frameworks.
Moving Forward – Beyond PESCAO
Looking forward, the various institutions and organizations agreed that further collaboration based on the results and lessons learnt from the PESCOA Component 3 projects was required. Participants were encouraged by the wealth of fisheries knowledge available across the region and from this, robust frameworks for sustainable fisheries management must be strengthened to ensure the longevity of marine resources and the communities that depend on them.