On 25 and 26th of October 2023, a regional workshop on “Fisheries Resource Access Agreements of Atlantic Coastal States” was organized in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) by the COMHAFAT, an intergovernmental organisation created in 1989 and comprising 22 countries, from Morocco to Namibia.
Bringing together around 30 participants from regional institutions, - like ECOWAS, COREP-, Fisheries Ministries from COMHAFAT member countries, the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), EU (DG MARE), as well as representatives of civil society like the African confederation of artisanal fisheries organisations (CAOPA), the workshop examined the economic, social, and environmental impacts of fisheries agreements in Africa.
In an interview, the President of COMHAFAT, the Minister for Animal and Fisheries Resources from Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Sidi Touré, urged stakeholders to chart a course for sustainable, equitable, environmentally friendly, and mutually beneficial fishing agreements in Africa. He highlighted however that currently, some of these agreements contribute to overfishing and the deterioration of marine resources, while others raise the question of the inadequacy of the economic spin-offs for African countries, and concluded that “these agreements, if negotiated in a transparent and fair manner, could offer significant economic benefits to the host countries.”
In his presentation, Mr. Gaoussou Gueye, president of CAOPA insisted on the fact that, when considering access by foreign fleets (from Russia, China, Corea, EU, etc.) to African waters, whether under bilateral government to government agreements, private agreements, joint ventures, or chartering, “opacity reigns”. Today, only the texts of the agreements with the EU and the fishing authorisations for European vessels are published. He emphasized the damages inflicted in particular by vessels fishing under joint ventures, that use destructive fishing gears and techniques, and threaten coastal communities’ livelihoods and the food security of African populations.
The representative of the AU-IBAR, Mr. Obinna Anozie, praised the Memorandum of Understanding signed between COMHAFAT and AU-IBAR. As part of this collaboration, further work will be undertaken by a group of experts to devise guidelines for African countries towards negotiating fair, sustainable, and transparent fishing agreements.
CAOPA, which will participate in the experts’ group, emphasized the need to have transparency in the negotiation of all agreements, private licences, joint ventures; and the information and consultation of fishing communities before granting access to vessels of foreign origin. In the objectives of these agreements, a greater attention should be paid to the implementation of international commitments entered in by host African countries, such as the FAO Guidelines on Small-scale Fisheries.
Banner photo: Illustrative photo from Canva Pro.
This article analyses a series of studies jointly commissioned by CAOPA and CFFA on areas reserved to artisanal fisheries in several African countries. The author sheds light on common challenges for protecting small-scale fishers access and the pressing need for better developing co-management in coastal fisheries, and looks into how can the EU support protection of small-scale fishers’ access to resources.