A study carried out for ATLAFCO proposes the creation of a new regional organisation aimed at implementing management measures to reduce overfishing in countries on the Atlantic coast of Africa
For several decades, experts, civil society organisations, organisations of artisanal fisheries professionals and environmental NGOs have been advocating for the regional management of shared small pelagic stocks in West Africa. Indeed, the state of these resources, including sardinella, is deteriorating due to the absence of a sustainable and concerted management.
The stock of round sardinella is in an alarming state, particularly because of its use in fishmeal. Photo: Francisco Mari/Bread for the World
The problem is now more acute, particularly because of the anarchic exploitation of these small pelagics for fishmeal in the region. Indeed, the use of fresh fish for the production of fishmeal, especially sardinella, a staple food for the populations of the region, is a major source of concern for the artisanal fishing communities. Despite the lack of detailed data, studies indicate that the sardinella stock is currently severely overfished.
The creation of a regional fisheries management organisation (RFMO) that would cover these small pelagics shared by Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea Bissau, is therefore becoming increasingly urgent. Several studies and initiatives in this sense have been proposed in the past, which would have involved the granting of management competences to existing organisations, such as the SRFC or CECAF, but they have not been successful so far due to a lack of political will.
COOPERATION BETWEEN NEIGHBOURING STATES?
Given this situation, some suggest starting with specific cooperation between neighbouring states, for example in the field of research, in order to gradually move towards a concerted management of these resources. Thus, in an article published on our website in February 2020, Ad Corten, who was responsible for pelagic research in the Netherlands from 1971 to 1996 and coordinator of Dutch-Mauritanian cooperation in fisheries research from 1998 to the present, suggested four solutions to be implemented in the framework of a future Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) protocol between the EU and Mauritania. Mauritania should commit itself to :
(1) considerably increase the sampling of pelagic catches, to
(2) implement the recommendations of the FAO working group on the assessment of small pelagic species off North-West Africa and to
(3) initiate consultations with neighbouring Senegal on the joint management of sardinella.
In addition, the EU should :
(4) contribute to regional management efforts by supporting the FAO working group which is currently facing several challenges.
AN ATLAFCO STUDY PROPOSES A NEW RFMO
Efforts are also being made to establish a regional framework for the management of shared fisheries resources. Following a recommendation by the Fisheries Ministers of the 22 COMHAFAT member countries in 2018, a study on the modalities for the creation of a new RFMO was published in 2019. The draft founding Convention of a new RFMO (in French only) proposes specific solutions to establish a binding international legal framework to promote cooperation among African coastal states in identifying and implementing management measures to stop the cycle of overfishing.
The new RFMO should be structured along the existing models, with a Commission with the power to adopt binding conservation and management measures, and subsidiary bodies to support the work of the Commission (Administrative and Financial Committee, Compliance Committee, Scientific Committee and Executive Secretariat). This new instrument should take into account the specificities of the COMHAFAT area, i.e. mainly (i) a scope covering small pelagic and/or demersal stocks exploited only within the boundaries of the EEZs of coastal States and (ii) exploited stocks which are distributed within the EEZs of a maximum of 4 to 5 coastal States. This last specificity suggests the need to adopt a regional approach in the decision-making process as is done by other RFMOs, such as the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM).
In the "questions-and-answers" document that accompanies the proposal, one can note the priority that is put on the regional management of small pelagics: "It can be expected that Contracting Parties will wish to adopt as a priority management and conservation measures for shared small pelagic and/or demersal stocks that are of particular importance for the food security of African populations, due to the need to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations, and in particular SDG 14".
Banner photo: Fish on the beach of Joal (Senegal), Mamadou Aliou Diallo/REJOPRA
The strategy of transforming seafood industry through voluntary partnerships and market-based incentives is the approach currently favoured by many environmental NGOs and donors. The case of Mauritania reduction fisheries “Fisheries Improvement Project” highlights the fundamental flaws with the corporate friendly approach and the urgent need to resist this model becoming normalised.