From 8 different African countries, representatives of coastal fishing communities participated to a seminar on the external dimension of the CFP hosted by the EU Long Distance Fisheries Advisory Council (LDAC) in Sweden and then travelled to Brussels where they exchanged with decision-makers from the Commission and the European Parliament.
The European Parliament's Fisheries Committee has highlighted the impact of the fishmeal industry in Mauritania on the food security of West African populations and called on Mauritania, the EU and neighbouring countries to support and "initiate an international dialogue" for the creation of an RFMO for shared stocks.
The 40-foot container is the first real impact perceived by fishmongers and processors from the sustainable fisheries partnership agreement between Côte d'Ivoire and the European Union, but the women face another challenge: access to credit and thus to the liquidity needed to build up working capital, which is necessary to buy fish.
During the SFPA negotiations, the local artisanal fishing organisation SFBOA, highlighted its priorities: the EU-Seychelles agreement should (i) contribute to reducing the pressure on tuna resources and on the environment; (ii) ensure transparency and more participation of the fisheries stakeholders and local communities, and (iii) use sectoral support funds primarily for the management of fisheries, and for the improvement of living and working conditions in the local fishing sector.
At a webinar jointly organized by the FAO and the German Presidency and hosted by Members of the European Parliament, CFFA partner CAOPA calls on EU and AU, their members and their citizens to work together to implement, through transparent, participatory and gender-sensitive national action plans to implement the FAO Voluntary Small scale Fisheries Guidelines.
