During the debate in the EP PECH Committee, the European Commission also proposed to reorient some sectoral support funds to address the challenges the local fishing communities are facing with the Covid-19.
The EP Fisheries Committee voted the extension of the EU-Mauritania SFPA protocol, highlighting issues for renegotiation
The report by MEP Clara Aguilera cautions that this extension should not make negotiations for the new protocol drag, and includes key demands from the Mauritanian small-scale fisheries sector, such as progress on transparency and the use of sectoral support for the sustainable development of the local sector.
Senegalese fisheries stakeholders protest against its government intention to issue 54 fishing licenses to Chinese and Turkish vessels
In the midst of the Coronavirus crisis, the Senegalese consultative committee for the attribution of fishing licences was consulted via email for this allocation. Several fisheries organisations have raised sustainability concerns and warned it could endanger artisanal fishing communities’ livelihoods.
African artisanal fishermen call for measures to help them cope with the COVID-19 epidemic
Tackling the use of wild fish in aquaculture supply chains
Senegalese civil society raises awareness on the harmful impacts of plastics on the environment
West African Media and Artisanal Fishing Professionals: Raising awareness about sustainable fisheries issues
In the recent years, West African artisanal fishing organizations, CONIPAS (Senegal), FNP – section artisanale (Mauritania) and UNPAG (Guinea) recognised that, in their communities, there is insufficient access to information relating to responsible fisheries. In the same way, scientists, decision makers and public opinion, do not take sufficient account of the views of artisanal fishing professionals, whether on social, economic, cultural issues, or on our relation with the natural environment.
Facilitating access to information is crucial for the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries by members of professional organizations, their families and the overall coastal community. It is also important to valorise, through improving information flows, traditional knowledge, and innovations proposed by artisanal professional in a perspective of responsible fishing.
Medias, radio in particular, - as it is widely listened to by fishing professional, even those who are not able to read-, but also newspapers and television, can play a bigger role to improve community access to information. But information must be presented in an appropriate format, so as to be of interest and accessible for all people from the community.
That’s the reason why these artisanal professional organizations decided to organize a regional meeting between media and fishing professionals, to explore how responsible fisheries issues can be better publicized in coastal communities, and how communities’ point of views and experiences for promoting sustainable fisheries can be better known and recognised, with media help. Given such support, coastal communities may get a better say in the decision making process.
The organisers are convinced that information appropriately tailored to the needs of coastal communities, and their participation in the creation of information is a necessary ingredient for the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. This is because fishing professionals are not only resource users but are also amongst the managers of these resources.