To mark International Women's Day, and taking advantage of her visit to Brussels as part of the Fisheries and Oceans Dialogues organised by the European Commission, we interview Raïssa Madou, a fish processor in Côte d'Ivoire.

The European Commission seeks to unlock further benefits from the ocean whilst ensuring conservation; however small-scale fishers warn that this will bring compromises in which they are going to be the most vulnerable sector.

The EU Long Distance Advisory Council (LDAC) and CFFA have published the report of the seminar on European fishing investments in third countries they jointly organized last May in Berlin, in the headquarters of the NGO Bread For the World.

At a conference on working conditions for non-European fishers on board EU vessels, participants raised the need to bring more transparency and better supervising for the practices of fishing agents.

The declaration touches upon most fisheries’ hot topics: the fight against IUU fishing, good governance, transparency, fisheries subsidies, among others. On most of these topics, emphasis is put by the Ministers on small scale fisheries.

The Cypriot commissioner-designate faced the questions of the European Parliament fisheries committee (PECH) regarding the strategic framework which should bring coherence among ocean-related policies, including the Common Fisheries Policy. PECH backed him for his future mandate.

In September 2024, the Ministers responsible for Fisheries of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) met in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) to discuss the theme ‘ Accelerating action for sustainable and resilient oceans, fisheries and aquaculture in OECP member countries and regions’.

A new study presented to the European Parliament Fisheries Committee outlined the strengths and weaknesses of the CFP and other EU policies in addressing current and future challenges in fisheries and aquaculture.

A Senegalese civil society organisation, member of the OECD Watch network, supported fishers from Saint Louis in placing a complaint to the UK and US OECD National Contact Points against the multinational enterprises British Petroleum and Kosmos Energy.

In a joint letter to the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union, organisations from Europe and Africa call for the end of EU’s support to intensive fish farming and instead the promotion of more sustainable small-scale aquaculture options that can co-exist with low impact fisheries.

The EU Long-Distance Advisory Council and CFFA co-hosted a seminar end of May in Berlin with key African fisheries stakeholders to discuss issues related to EU fishing companies with investments and operations in Africa.

The annual report on exports of fishery products confirms the trend: Senegal is becoming, after Mauritania and the Gambia, one of the countries that favours the production and export of fishmeal and fish oil to the detriment of the nutrition of its population.

In April 2024, the Liberian National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) invited several fisheries stakeholders to validate a draft fisheries management plan for a multi-species deep-water shrimp fishery, which are very vulnerable and already over-exploited. LAFA deplores the absence of an appropriate stakeholder engagement during the development of the plan.

In an effort to promote transparency and fight overfishing, the new Minister of Fisheries, Dr Fatou Diouf, has announced the publication of a list of the vessels authorised to fish in Senegal. The African Confederation of Artisanal Fishing Organisations (CAOPA) comments on this.

In a position paper, APRAPAM questions the government's proposal to support the production of fish feed and insists instead on the importance of a management plan for small pelagics and the prioritisation of human consumption.