In view of the global evaluation of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) that will be carried out by the Commission in 2021, the author highlights the key points which will need to be assessed from the perspective of the impacts on African coastal communities. The author also suggests essential improvements to be made for the future of SFPAs so that they better respond to the needs of these communities.
The latest minutes of the meeting of the last Joint Scientific Committee (JSC) of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Mauritania reveal that there is still a long way to go to ensure that all EU fleets active in Mauritania fish sustainably, particularly as regards the control and limitation of by-catches and discards.
It is the last week of the 5th session of the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) and there is an expectation that delegates will agree on a series of topics, including area-based management tools. However, Marine Protected Areas in areas beyond national jurisdiction without further measures to reduce capacity might instensify the fishing effort in EEZs, increasing competition with small-scale fisheries.
At the beginning of February, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Contracting Parties, meeting in Kenya, adopted Conservation and Management Measures on both anchored and drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs). These measures were welcomed by many Indian Ocean nations that consider FADs one of the main reasons of tuna overfishing in the region. An article by Beatrice Gorez and Hélène Bours.
PRESS RELEASE: On 21 February, the Commission presented several measures to improve the sustainability of the EU fisheries and aquaculture sector. It includes four elements: Energy Transition, an Action Plan to protect and restore marine ecosystems, a Communication on the "common fisheries policy today and tomorrow and a Report on the Common Market Organisation for fishery and aquaculture products. How will these impact African small-scale fishing communities?
The FAO Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture can be improved by including the considerations of stakeholders that are currently facing the negative impacts of unsustainable aquaculture, and by openly addressing issues like the interactions with small scale fisheries, competing for coastal space and for access to resources like small pelagics in West Africa.
Joint statement - In the delivering on 30x30 and financing conservation, debt for nature swaps are gaining momentum. However, debt swaps should be rejected as they lack transparency and give undue power to foreign organisations over the policies of marine resources management of developing and small-island states.
SOPERKA, a Senegalese fishing company, in a joint venture with the Spanish company Grupo Pereira, wished to react to our article “Experimental fishing or experimental pillaging in Liberia?” Mr Kandji, Managing Director, Mr Serrano, from the company Pereira, adviser to SOPERKA for its fishing operations, and Mr Perez Bouzada, a lawyer, who defends the interests of the company Pereira, expressed their views on a series of issues raised in the article.
Efforts to make blue economy sustainable have led to increasing calls for better regulations on investments. The European Commission has provided funding for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to launch the Blue Economy Finance Initiative (BEFI). The BEFI has been celebrated in international conferences about blue economy, however, this article highlights the inherent weaknesses of voluntary guidelines in mitigating the threats financial investors pose to the destruction of the planet.
