Sao Tome and Principe endorses first ever fisheries management plan
Key step to more productive and sustainable fisheries in African island nation
27 November 2024, Sao Tome – Government representatives, fishery stakeholders and experts today endorsed Sao Tome and Principe’s first fisheries management plan, a milestone paving the way for more sustainable utilization of the African island nations’ rich fishery resources.
"Fisheries are vital for our country. They bring affordable and healthy food, and they are an important source of employment," said Graciano do Espirito Costa, adviser to the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries at a meeting of around 50 policy makers, stakeholders and experts, who validated the first-ever fisheries management plan for Sao Tome and Principe.
Fish plays a key role in Sao Tome and Principe’s food security with aquatic foods representing more than half the protein consumption of the population. The main fish species captured include flying fish, frigate and bullet tuna, blue runner, ballao halfbeak and mackerel. Total captures were estimated at nearly 15 00 tons in 2021, while an estimated 4 300 fishers and 2 300 fish traders were employed in the sector.
He added: "This plan puts us on a road to managing our fisheries sustainably and safeguard this resource for future generations," highlighting the importance that authorities attach to involving local fishing communities in plans to manage the countries’ fisheries resources.
Wide consultations were held with fishing communities to understand the issues that a fisheries management plan should address and the measures to resolve them. Issues that emerged include ways to manage conflicts over access to fishing grounds and avoiding harmful practices such as the use of stones for purse seining, or the fishing of juveniles with nets with illegal mesh sizes.
The role of fishing communities is also firmly enshrined in the plan endorsed today, which proposes to co-manage fishery resources in shared responsibility between the authorities and fishery sector stakeholders. At the same time, the plan outlines a transformation of Sao Tome and Principe’s open-access fishing into a fishery that operates within the boundaries of sustainably managed fish stocks by limiting the fishing effort.
Led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries of Sao Tome and Principe, the fisheries management plan was spearheaded by the global aquatic value chain initiative FISH4ACP with technical support from the EAF-Nansen program, a partnership between FAO and Norway implemented in close collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (IMR).
FISH4ACP is an initiative of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) aimed at making fisheries and aquaculture value chains in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific more productive and sustainable. FISH4ACP is implemented by FAO with funding from the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
"This plan is a significant step forward in improving the economic, social and environmental benefits of Sao Tome and Principe’s important fisheries resources," said Davide Morucci, Program Officer from the Delegation of the European Union in Gabon, Sao Tome-and-Principe and ECCA. "It shows the impact of flagship projects such as FISH4ACP on achieving the agenda on sustainable development that Europe supports."
In Sao Tome and Principe, FISH4ACP works to make the coastal pelagics value chain more profitable and sustainable. Many of FISH4ACP’s activities align with the goals of the new management plan, including its support to professionalize stakeholders in the fisheries sector, strengthen catch data collection and analysis, improve fish handling and food safety as well as to reinforce monitoring control and surveillance.
"FAO is happy to support a blue transformation of Sao Tome and Principe’s fisheries," said Olavio Anibal, FAO's FISH4ACP National Professional Officer, adding: "In boosting food and nutrition security, improving the livelihoods of local fishing communities and safeguarding fish stocks for future generations, FISH4ACP is helping to realize FAO’s strategic priorities of better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind."
