The EU-Cabo Verde high-level political dialogue reaffirmed the SFPA as the “key framework for their fisheries cooperation”. However, at a workshop in Boa Vista bringing together fisheries organisations, civil society and public authorities, show that the partnership does not yet address the concerns of the third country’s small-scale fisheries.

Small pelagic stocks are shared across West African waters, yet their management remains largely national. In this article, the author argues that stronger regional management is not simply a matter of better policy or voluntary cooperation: it also flows from existing obligations under international law. These obligations require coastal states not only to conserve shared stocks, but to cooperate on issues such as fishing capacity and allocation of access, implement agreed measures and hold one another accountable where national decisions undermine a shared resource. Drawing on recent examples from West Africa, the article shows why effective regional governance is essential if national conservation efforts are to succeed.

This article examines the deadlock in negotiations between Mauritania and the EU over a new fisheries agreement, focused on European fleet access and the EU’s financial contribution. As the Commission prepares its Vision 2040 for fisheries and aquaculture, it argues that negotiations should also address sustainable fisheries management and benefits for Mauritania’s small-scale fishing communities.

A subsidy to fit a fishing vessel with an engine that uses less fossil fuel, that seems like an easy win. However, if the same vessel can then fish more efficiently, the climate gain may come with a hefty bill for fish stocks and coastal communities.

Fish is becoming increasingly scarce on African tables, even though African waters continue to supply international markets. As the EU is about to reveal its future strategy for external fisheries action, the next generation of SFPAs offers an opportunity to address this challenge. Their contribution to food security should ultimately be judged by a simple test: do they help more sustainably caught fish reach local consumers in good condition and at an affordable price?

The relaunch of the SSF-GSF could help accelerate the implementation of the SSF Guidelines. In Africa, however, it will only be useful if it builds on existing representative organisations and regional frameworks, rather than creating a new parallel structure.

The Commission is preparing a set of guidelines for an harmonised approach to ensure EU funded activities do not undermine EU environmental objectives. For fisheries, this should not result in weaker environmental safeguards. The EU should also be supporting those fishers that have maintained low-impact and selective practices for years.

21 Civil Society and Small-scale fishing organisations (CSOs and SSF) sign a joint statement at the 37th Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries, a global body that provides recommendations and policy advice on fisheries and aquaculture to governments, regional fisheries bodies and the international community in general.

Presented as a means of protecting sensitive information, the use of confidentiality agreements in debt-swap transactions effectively deprives civil society in the countries concerned of its free, prior and informed consent by obstructing debate and participation on the terms of the deal, including the public policies the governments commit to in exchange for the debt-swap.

As the Commission seeks to amend the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, it should make sure that EU public funding supports sustainable fisheries by EU vessels, both in EU waters and around the world.

As the IOTC continues to debate issues such as access allocation systems, management measures and the future of tuna fisheries governance, the question is no longer whether small-scale fisheries should be recognised, but how.

The Commission study on the future of the EU fishing fleet highlights the challenge of balancing ecological sustainability, decarbonisation, and economic viability. The article explores whether fleet modernisation should automatically be considered an increase in fishing capacity, and discusses the implications of this debate for fisheries management both within the EU and in African waters where EU distant-water fleets operate.

While sector stakeholders favour targeted reforms of the CFP and the simplification of existing rules, NGOs call for the strict enforcement of the current framework. What are the potential implications of these debates for African waters?

EU fisheries governance should shift from a vessel-based to an enterprise-based model, drawing on the Chinese distant-water fishing model while noting its limits. EU progress in transparency and beneficial ownership control is highlighted, alongside calls for conditional subsidies, expanded compliance, and broader corporate responsibility globally.

At the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, ministers reaffirmed commitment to continue negotiations on harmful fisheries subsidies. While the 2025 Fish 1 agreement marked progress, major concerns persist over industrial fleets, overcapacity, and impacts on African artisanal fishers.

Although the EU-Mauritius SFPA generates measurable macroeconomic gains, these benefits remain largely invisible to small-scale fishers. The authors highlight weak transparency, limited coastal development impact, governance issues, and inequitable access to resources, calling for a more inclusive, community-centred fisheries partnership model.

The European Union is drafting an Ocean Act aimed at improving the coherence of its maritime policies. This initiative could better integrate small-scale fisheries, protect marine ecosystems and support coastal communities, both in Europe and in partner countries.

The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) between the EU and Mauritania is an opportunity to implement the “new generation” of agreements announced by the Commission, which should focus on the equitable sharing of benefits, local development, and the well-being of coastal communities that depend on fishing.

Francisco Mari, advocacy officer for global food security, agricultural trade and maritime policy at Bread for the World, reviews the WTO agreement on fisheries subsidies; following its recent entry into force. For this, he points at what till remains unaddressed and the costs and opportunities for developing countries, including the impact on small-scale fisheries.

When harmonising regional closed seasons in SRFC and FCWC regions, CFFA calls for considering social and environmental perspectives and ensuring the participation of affected communities.

Small-scale fishing communities depend on the coast and inshore waters for their livelihoods. Many African countries now recognise small-scale fisheries’ role in achieving climate and biodiversity goals. The EU should support this by strengthening priority access and funding co-management in coastal waters.

In mid-September, a factory ship flying the Gambian flag and owned by a Maltese company collided with and sank a trawler flying the Mauritanian flag and owned by a Spanish company. Five Mauritanian seafarers lost their lives. What about European responsibility behind this tragedy?

Dormant SFPAs should not simply be considered as a pause. Since the framework agreements are still in place, they should be utilised for dialogue on science and sustainable fisheries between the two parties. Dormant agreements can also play a role in the broader regional network of SFPAs as they can help monitor and coordinate research across borders. Finally, these agreements can also continue fostering coherence between EU funding instruments.

CFFA urges the EU to align its 2028–2034 budget with its commitments to sustainable development and ocean governance. Support for African small-scale fisheries must be anchored in transparency and based on inclusive, equitable partnerships.

In this article, CFFA highlights the Indian Ocean archipelago’s small-scale sector’s concerns and demands in light of the ongoing negotiations for the new EU-Sechelles Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) protocol.

At the occasion of the 20th session of the FAO subcommittee on trade, more than 19 CSOs and small-scale fisheries organisations, the signatories ask that FAO and its members adopt “blue food systems” that align with the ecosystem-based approach, the principles of social equity and animal welfare, and that they stop supporting the mass production of seafood through industrial feedlot aquaculture without consideration for the environment or local communities.

In this position paper, CFFA contributes to the Commission open consultation on an EU strategy for fisheries external action. In it, CFFA calls for a strategy that looks into policy coherence for development, including a focus on food security, the importance of participation of stakeholders and of including human rights safeguards. In the second part of the position, CFFA looks at the coherence in the resources put forward to fund this external strategy, as essential for effective action. 

FAO and its members should ensure that trade rules are fair, that investments go into infrastructure and services that communities themselves have identified, that women’s and youth’s contributions are fully valued, and that binding social and environmental protections underpin every initiative.