This document is the final workshop report for the inception meeting of the CECAF-PESCAO project “Improved fisheries governance in West Africa” held at the Volta Hotel in Akosombo, Ghana from 24 to 26 April 2018. A total of thirty four participants from nine Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF) Member countries and representatives from the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), EAF-Nansen Programme, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, FAO Regional Office for Africa, DEMERSTEM Project, Instituto Espanol de Oceanografid Oceanografia (IEO), West Africa Non-State Actors for Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (WANSAFA), Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (CSRP), and Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA) attended the meeting to develop and agree on the project workplan. 

The nineteenth meeting of the FAO Working Group on the Assessment of Small Pelagic Fish off Northwest Africa was held in Casablanca, Morocco, from 8–13 July 2019. The meeting was organized by FAO in collaboration with the National Institute of Fisheries Research (INRH) of Morocco. Participants were funded through their respective institutions with support from the EAF-Nansen Programme. The INRH hosts supported local meeting costs. Altogether 23 scientists from five countries, in addition to the EU and FAO, participated. Ms Aziza Lakhnigue, INRH, Chaired the session. A first editing of the report was made by the participants of the Working Group. Final technical editing was done by Aziza Lakhnigue, Ana Maria Caramelo and Merete Tandstad. We are grateful to Jessica Fuller for assistance in the final editing of this document. 

This document is the final report of the twenty-second session of the Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF), held in Libreville, Gabon from 17 to 19 September 2019. Major topics discussed were: (i) action on recommendations from the 21st session; (ii) main outcomes of the eighth session of the Scientific Sub-Committee (SSC); (iii) the independent cost-benefit assessment for improved directions of CECAF; (iv) improvement of data quality and assessment models; (v) CECAF rules and procedures (vi) the EU-funded PESCAO project Improved regional fisheries governance in west Africa; (vii) matters regarding the EAF-Nansen programme; (viii) and other matters including the CECAF Programme of Work for 2019-2020, and other ongoing activities.

This document is the final report of the eighth session of the Scientific Sub-Committee of the Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF), which was held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire from 23 to 26 October 2018. The SSC was immediately preceeded by a one-day meeting, on 22 October, on the EAF-Nansen Programme and upcoming survey related activities in the CECAF region. Major topics discussed were: (i) the reports of the assessment Working Groups on small pelagics and demersal species, as presented by the subgroups, and the report of the artisanal fisheries Working Group; (ii) fishery management advice in the CECAF region; (iii) reporting on the state of resources for the CECAF area and considerations for a revised advice framework; (iv) overview and coordination of ongoing research activities; (v) CECAF-FIRMS fisheries inventories; (vi) overview of CECAF statistics; (vii) deep-sea fisheries and vulnerable marine ecosystems; (viii) report of work of other projects/programmes in the CECAF region, report of work of research institutions or scientific groups in CECAF member countries; and (ix) future programme of work in the region. 

The fourth meeting of the FAO/CECAF Working Group on the Assessment of Small Pelagic Fish – Subgroup South was held in Elmina, Ghana from 12-20 September 2018. The overall objective of the Working Group is to contribute to the improved management of small pelagic resources in West Africa through the assessment of the state of the stocks and fisheries in order to ensure sustainable use of these resources for the benefit of coastal countries. The Working Group focused on data quality and on the analysis of trends in the basic data (catch, effort, abundance indices and length distribution) and trends in the fishery-independent survey data. The species assessed by the Working Group were: sardinella (Sardinella aurita and Sardinella maderensis), bonga (Ethmalosa fimbriata), anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) and horse mackerel (Trachurus trecae and Decapterus rhonchus), and other Carangidae, in the region between the northern border of Guinea-Bissau and the southern border of Angola.