From 8 to 10 March 2023, in the framework of the EU-funded programme PESCAO, EFCA supported the training of Fisheries Monitoring Centres operators organized by the Subregional Fisheries Commission (SRFC), a regional fisheries body based in Dakar (Senegal) that brings together 7 Western African countries[1] to enhance the sustainable management of fisheries resources in the area.
The training provided theoretical and practical knowledge in the subject of fisheries monitoring systems, aiming to promote capacity building and competencies in fisheries monitoring data analysis technics based on the EFCA manual “Course for Fisheries Monitoring Centres operators for non-EU countries”.
These three days of training took place in Bissau, in Guinea-Bissau, and offered the opportunity for national FMC operators to develop and consolidate abilities in remote control systems, international fisheries agreements, types of monitoring data, and methodologies for surveillance procedures. The training also had a strong practical component focused on the analysis of vessel monitoring systems data that included exercises where the trainees were able to challenge themselves with the different skills learned in real situations.
This national training for FMC operators is carried out under the framework of the EU-funded PESCAO programme, in which EFCA participates providing training, legal and technical assistance to the SRFC and the Fisheries Committee of the West and Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), as well as their Member States.
The PESCAO programme aims, amongst other objectives, at improving regional fisheries governance in Western Africa to fight illegal fishing, and to maintain healthy fish stocks in a region of the world where fishing remains one of the main sources of protein and livelihoods.
Background
The European Fisheries Control Agency is a European Union agency. The agency’s mission is to promote the highest common standards for control, inspection and surveillance under the CFP. The EFCA will function at the highest level of excellence and transparency with a view to developing the necessary confidence and cooperation of all parties involved and, in so doing, to ensure effectiveness and efficiency of its operations.
[1] Cabo Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.