FAO continues ongoing capacity development work to implement the PSMA in Guinea
From 9-18 September, FAO returned to Guinea to continue its ongoing capacity development work to support the country’s effective implementation of the 2009 FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) and complementary international instruments.
Guinea has been a Party to the PSMA since June 2016 and has been receiving technical support from FAO since 2017, with the generous financial support of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).
The mission consisted of, the first week, a five-day in-country fisheries inspectors training in Conakry, which aimed to re-enforce the capacity of Guinean authorities and institutions to conduct fisheries inspections in port, in line with the requirements of the PSMA.
Fifteen fisheries inspectors and seven additional government agents from the Department of Fisheries, Coastguard, Customs and Navy took part in the training.
The training focused largely on the practical aspects of conducting fisheries inspections in conformity with the PSMA – covering risk assessment methodologies, verification of documents, and vessel, gear and catch inspections – but also provided an overview of the relevant international voluntary and binding instruments that dictate the port, flag, coastal and market State responsibilities of countries to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
One entire day of the training was dedicated to mock inspections in the port of Conakry, aboard an active 35 meter trawler.
The training was a follow-up to FAO’s Fisheries Inspector Course that was held in Vigo, Spain, in November 2018 in the French language, which four Guinean nationals attended.
The second week, the focus turned towards the formulation of a draft implementing Decree for Guinea, to specifically detail how and through what inter-institutional processes the country would effectively implement the PSMA.
This activity was carried out in a workshop setting, guided by FAO experts but with heavy participation and input from government representatives from the relevant national agencies.
The implementing Decree, once finalized, will be handed over to the relevant national agencies to see to its adoption.
Guinea’s ports of Conakry and Kamsar jointly receive over 500 foreign vessels a year that enter these ports for the purposes of landing fish and introducing them into global supply chains.
This technical support provided by FAO, and generously funded by Norway, aims to ensure Guinea is fully capacitated to effectively assess foreign vessels wishing to enter its ports, to identify when IUU fishing activities have taken place, and to refuse the entry and/or use of its ports to such vessels.