Access agreements, Artisanal fisheries, Governance, Transparency, Sectoral support
Anaïd Panossian
What future for Sustainable Fisheries ...

In view of the global evaluation of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) that will be carried out by the Commission in 2021, the author highlights the key points which will need to be assessed from the perspective of the impacts on African coastal communities. The author also suggests essential improvements to be made for the future of SFPAs so that they better respond to the needs of these communities.

What future for Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements?

Sustainable Fishing

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A CFP external dimension fit for the future: more focus on good governance, less on paying access rights for EU fleets

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A CFP external dimension fit for the future: more focus on good governance, less on paying access rights for EU fleets

The author makes 4 recommendations to make the external dimension of the CFP more effective: (1) the EU should shift from access agreements to fisheries governance agreements, while (2) continuing to support informed participation of stakeholders in third countries; (3) it should also ensure that all vessels of EU origin, including those reflagged, abide by sustainability standards; and (4) it should actively engage, at international level, to promote transparent, fair, and sustainable access arrangements applicable to all fleets of foreign origin fishing in developing countries.

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Yellow card Senegal: the fight against IUU fishing must also be waged in the coastal zone

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Yellow card Senegal: the fight against IUU fishing must also be waged in the coastal zone

At a time when the fisheries agreement is being renegotiated, Senegal is initiating a formal dialogue with the EU on the fight against IUU fishing. As part of this dialogue, the European Union has a responsibility to improve controls on vessels of European origin, and to impose heavy penalties when they fail to comply with the rules.

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Fishing at a discount? Rethinking the design of fisheries access fees in Africa

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Fishing at a discount? Rethinking the design of fisheries access fees in Africa

The author discusses the design of access fees for foreign fishing vessels in African countries and explains why these fees are low in most African nations. He also debates conditions under which industrial fishing vessels of foreign origin should be given access, or not, to African coastal countries waters, and argues for a re-think of access fees design.

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EU-Mauritania SFPA: scientists highlight key sustainability issues, do not consider coral reefs protection

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EU-Mauritania SFPA: scientists highlight key sustainability issues, do not consider coral reefs protection

The latest minutes of the meeting of the last Joint Scientific Committee (JSC) of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Mauritania reveal that there is still a long way to go to ensure that all EU fleets active in Mauritania fish sustainably, particularly as regards the control and limitation of by-catches and discards.

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The EU must develop fisheries specific due diligence legislation

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The EU must develop fisheries specific due diligence legislation

The Spanish presidency of the EU is seeking to finalise the negotiations for a corporate accountability directive before the end of December 2023, which would see European based companies take some degree of responsibility for what they do in third countries. We look at some key issues at stake for the third countries small scale fishers.

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How can SFPAs improve working conditions for African crews on board distant water fishing vessels?

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How can SFPAs improve working conditions for African crews on board distant water fishing vessels?

On 25 June, seafarer’s day, CFFA reflects on how the social clause agreed by European social partners is spelled out in EU fishing agreements for non-Europeans working on board of EU vessels operating under Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements.

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An ambitious High Seas Treaty must not come at the expense of coastal fishing communities

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An ambitious High Seas Treaty must not come at the expense of coastal fishing communities

It is the last week of the 5th session of the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) and there is an expectation that delegates will agree on a series of topics, including area-based management tools. However, Marine Protected Areas in areas beyond national jurisdiction without further measures to reduce capacity might instensify the fishing effort in EEZs, increasing competition with small-scale fisheries.

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Don’t miss the woods for the tree: Beyond FADs, overcapacity in Indian Ocean tuna fisheries needs to be addressed

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Don’t miss the woods for the tree: Beyond FADs, overcapacity in Indian Ocean tuna fisheries needs to be addressed

At the beginning of February, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Contracting Parties, meeting in Kenya, adopted Conservation and Management Measures on both anchored and drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs). These measures were welcomed by many Indian Ocean nations that consider FADs one of the main reasons of tuna overfishing in the region. An article by Beatrice Gorez and Hélène Bours.

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Will a "CFP tomorrow" support sustainable artisanal fisheries in Africa?

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Will a "CFP tomorrow" support sustainable artisanal fisheries in Africa?

PRESS RELEASE: On 21 February, the Commission presented several measures to improve the sustainability of the EU fisheries and aquaculture sector. It includes four elements: Energy Transition, an Action Plan to protect and restore marine ecosystems, a Communication on the "common fisheries policy today and tomorrow and a Report on the Common Market Organisation for fishery and aquaculture products. How will these impact African small-scale fishing communities?

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The UN trumpets the importance of small-scale fisheries, but keeps mum about the blue threats it faces

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The UN trumpets the importance of small-scale fisheries, but keeps mum about the blue threats it faces

The annual UN General Assembly Resolution on Sustainable Fisheries usually comes out at the end of the year. This article analyses, how, at the end of the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries (IYAFA), the text reflects the key issues for this sector.

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Fisheries management in West Africa: the example of sardinella

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Fisheries management in West Africa: the example of sardinella

In this article first published in French in Annuaire Droit Maritime et Océanique, Université de Nantes, tome 40 XL (2022), the author calls for the establishment of a sardinellas Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) between Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania.

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More aquaculture to feed the world? Not at the expense of African fishing communities

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More aquaculture to feed the world? Not at the expense of African fishing communities

Nowadays, aquaculture provides more people with food than capture fisheries, and the tendency is growing. The accompanying demand for fishmeal and fishoil, driven mainly by China, is increasingly being covered by West African fishing. However, putting the blame for the threat to fish stocks in the region solely on China’s appetite for seafood falls a little short.

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Experimental fishing or experimental pillaging in Liberia?

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Experimental fishing or experimental pillaging in Liberia?

After the recent derogation for a Turkish purse seiner in Mauritania to fish in a zone reserved for artisanal fisheries, "Senegalized" trawlers of Spanish origin are fishing for deep water shrimps in Liberia through the Senegal-Liberia agreement, supposedly for experimental purposes.

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Improving scientific observer coverage in mixed Fisheries Agreements in West Africa

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Improving scientific observer coverage in mixed Fisheries Agreements in West Africa

BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, CFFA and WWF release a joint paper with recommendations to harmonize the conditions for the embarkment of scientific observers on board EU vessels and ask that data collection include more specifications on the biological information required, including information on bycatch species.

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World Fisheries Day: How the EU can support sustainable African artisanal fisheries

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World Fisheries Day: How the EU can support sustainable African artisanal fisheries

In this declaration on the occasion of World Fisheries Day, CFFA calls on the European Union to integrate the FAO Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale fisheries into all its policies that have an impact on this sector, particularly in the Blue Economy and Farm to Fork strategies and in its external action.

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Small scale fisheries at risk: Madagascar signs destructive fishing agreements with Chinese investors

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Small scale fisheries at risk: Madagascar signs destructive fishing agreements with Chinese investors

While negotiations between the European Union and Madagascar for a tuna fishing agreement are dragging on, Madagascar's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries has signed two private agreement protocols inviting around 30 vessels to fish in Malagasy waters.

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Replacing fisheries and decarbonizing the sector? We should not expect it from industrial aquaculture

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Replacing fisheries and decarbonizing the sector? We should not expect it from industrial aquaculture

This position paper explores the false promises of industrial aquaculture, highlights the key sustainability issues of promoting farming of carnivorous fish species, such as salmon, underscores the environmental and social impacts throughout the whole value chain and explains why the EU should stop promoting seafood coming from industrial aquaculture and instead focus on promoting sustainable small-scale and low impact fisheries and aquaculture.

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Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement negotiations between the EU and Mauritania: staying on course

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Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement negotiations between the EU and Mauritania: staying on course

As a new round of negotiations between the EU and Mauritania is expected to start soon, this position paper recalls the demands of the Mauritanian artisanal fisheries sector, highlighting technical conditions, such as the access to octopus to be reserved for local artisanal fishers, the zoning for trawlers to be maintained, and landings of small pelagics to be kept. Governance issues are also key, such as transparency, especially regarding the activities of other foreign fleets; and the urgent need for the SFPA to contribute to regional management for shared stocks.