Report of the Workshop on Use of Best Available Science in Developing and Promoting Best Practices for Trawl Fishing Operations in Africa. Marrakech, Morocco, 20–25 March 2017
One of the most contentious issues in management of marine fisheries is the use of mobile bottom contacting gears, mainly trawls and dredges. There are growing concerns about the overall ecosystem impacts of bottom trawling. Some countries have banned bottom trawling and some major retailers refuse to stock fish caught using bottom trawl gears. However, such decisions are not always based on the best available scientific advice.
The initiative “Finding common ground on the scientific knowledge regarding trawling best practices (TBP)” is an international collaboration of leaders in the scientific community to understand how trawling and other forms of towed bottom-contacting gears interact with seabed habitats and their biota. An analysis of the datasets to which the project has had access has revealed an underrepresentation of fisheries from tropical regions. Bottom trawl fishery is important in the region because it provides food and livelihoods for a large number of people.
The TBP project in collaboration with FAO held an expert workshop in 2014 in Bangkok (Thailand) covering South and Southeast Asia and another workshop in 2016 in Cartagena (Colombia) covering the Latin American region.
It was considered important to address the data gap and to engage stakeholders in Africa to raise awareness about potential best practices for trawling. Therefore, the TBP project, in collaboration with FAO, conducted a workshop on use of best available science in developing and promoting best practices for trawl fishing operations in Africa in March 2017 in Marrakech, Morocco.
Key research institutions, universities, organizations and independent experts involved in data collection and research on assessment and/or management of ecosystem impacts of bottom trawling in Africa were invited to attend the workshop.
The workshop first summarized the progress made in the five phases of the project and then (i) identified availability of data on spatial distribution of trawling activities, source of data as well as gaps in knowledge in the African region; (ii) evaluated availability and applicability of data on habitat, bycatch and ecosystem impacts of bottom trawling in the region; (iii) began to assemble data on trawling intensity in representative ecosystems; and (iv) developed an arrangement for expertise and data sharing, and for continuing to collaborate to develop best practices for trawling to enhance sustainability of marine ecosystem that contribute to food security and livelihoods in Africa.