Fair and sustainable fisheries arrangements
EU fleets access African waters through a variety of schemes…
Call to Action
from Artisanal Fisheries
In 2022, the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture, small-scale fishers from 6 continents gathered to….
More transparency
Publicly available and credible information is essential
for sustainable fisheries management…
The dangers of Blue Growth
The international governance agenda often forgets small-scale fisheries…
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.
With Senegal’s yellow card, fisheries agreement negotiations between the EU and Senegal are at a standstill. Meanwhile, the EU will negotiate the renewal of its SFPA with The Gambia, whose waters are bordered on both sides by Senegal’s. How would access to the Gambian waters be used by EU fleets, at a time when they may be barred from Senegal waters?
Andre Standing, senior consultant at CFFA, discusses with researcher Arınç Onat Kılıç, who has recently published a paper exploring the Seychelles Blue Bond, its impact on local fishing communities and the broader implications of private finance for developing the blue economy.
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.
In this article, the author underscores the ecological and social impacts of Norwegian intensive salmon farming, including the impact on food security in West Africa. The author remarks that while on the one hand, the European Union promotes fish for human consumption in Africa, on the other, the EU also opens wide its market gates for Norwegian farmed salmon, which is fed West African fish.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.b calls on states to secure access to marine resources and markets for small-scale fisheries.
Action is urgently required to address the key challenges so that small-scale fisheries are protected and restored, and that they continue contributing to economies, health, culture and wellbeing.
Small-scale fishers (SSF) from six continents identified five areas of action for their governments.
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.
Small-scale fisheries were omitted from the agenda of the 36th session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries, yet still made their way throughout most of the other agenda items. Several SSF representatives were able to intervene as observers during the plenary sessions.
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.
Closing the funding gap for biodiversity conservation is one of the critical topics at COP 16 in October 2024. The funding gap has been estimated at $700 billion in Goal D of the Kunming-Montreal Agreement, based on a report, “Financing Nature”, published in 2020. Taking the example of fisheries and ocean conservation, this article shows the $700 billion figure is based on highly dubious calculations and assumptions. The author argues the funding gap report is not a serious effort to estimate the needs for supporting conservation efforts. Therefore, the $700 billion figure should be rejected by those opposed to the continuing financialisation of conservation.