In the coming days, the next round of negotiations of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) between the European Union and Madagascar will take place.
To this end, six Malagasy civil society organisations (CSO) have issued a joint press release (available only in french) to both parties. Highlighting the opacity of certain agreements with foreign fleets and also the lack of information to the communities beforehand in relation to the agreement with the EU, they ask for more equity and transparency to ensure a real sustainable fishing.
Tangible benefits
In its communiqué, civil society demands fair financial compensation for access to EU vessels in Malagasy waters. Acknowledging that the calculation of tuna resources can be complex, for the signatories it is, moreover, "legitimate for the Malagasy authorities to demand from the EU a fair financial compensation taking into account the value of the tuna caught, the exploitation costs, the management costs and the monitoring, control and surveillance charges."
This increase should support the Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy "in particular to meet the pressing needs of small-scale fisheries in Madagascar" and go hand in hand with "better government accountability for the use of these funds.”
Sustainable management
The signatories highlight the work in 2020 of a group of NGOs and artisanal fisheries organisations, including CFFA, which proposed to the EU and third states 10 priorities for the future of sustainable fisheries partnership agreements. In addition, the communiqué proposes three main lines of action for the Malagasy government: support for scientific research, effective implementation of Marine Spatial Planning and strengthening surveillance to combat IUU fishing.
More transparency
For a "transparent, legitimate, democratic and representative framework", Malagasy civil society is asking to sit at the negotiating table as an observer and is asking the same for representatives of artisanal fisheries.
They also urge their government and the countries concerned to make information on all fisheries agreements public, because "Madagascar needs sustainable management of marine resources to establish fishing as a pillar of the blue economy but also to provide for the needs of local populations, who are currently facing serious dangers, including famine.”
More information:
Read the press release (in French)
The signatories:
Alliance Voahary Gasy, a platform for environmental justice
Coalition Nationale de Plaidoyer Environnemental (CNPE), for good governance of natural resources
MIHARI Network, the Malagasy national network of Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMA)
Rohy, Organisation des Citoyens pour la Défense des Intérêts/Biens Communs
Tafo Mihaavo, a network of "Fokonolona" (local communities) managing natural resources in Madagascar
Banner photo: Illustration image. Boat in Mahajanga, Madagascar, by Karimjy Louloua/Unsplash
For the agreement to contribute effectively to the Sustainable Development Goals, it is essential that the forthcoming negotiations, prior to the thirteenth ministerial conference, focus on the main threat to artisanal fisheries in Africa: overfishing and overcapacity, especially by foreign-owned vessels.