6 April, Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri opened the annual European Coast Guard Event in Świnoujście, Poland. This is the second such event jointly organised by Frontex, the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).
EFCA celebrated its 32nd Administrative Board meeting and adopted its Annual Report for 2018. 2018 was a year of intense activity, marking the tenth anniversary of the EFCA in Spain (Vigo). Throughout last year, EFCA combined its core tasks of operational coordination and fisheries control with its contribution to the EU Coast Guard cooperation. These were the main highlights:
The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) intends to award a supply contract of Equipment for a Regional Fisheries Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Centre (RC MCS) incorporating the pooled data of the FCWC Member States (Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria and Togo), Third Countries and other parties, from their Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), Automatic Identification Service (AIS) and other sources such as Vessel Traffic Systems (VTS), Earth Satellite Observation (EO) etc.
In the framework of the EU cooperation PESCAO project, a joint fisheries surveillance operation to detect illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing was just undertaken, the operation Alexandre Baptista. Under the coordination of the Subregional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) and with the technical and human support from EFCA, the joint operation brokered cooperation between Mauritania, Cabo Verde and Senegal. With the Coordination Centre in Senegal, representatives from all participating countries collected and exchanged fisheries information data.
Technical Assistance to ECOWAS for Improved Regional Fisheries Governance in Western Africa Programme (PESCAO, Component 1).
As part of EFCA´s commitment to Fundamental Rights, EFCA adopted a Code of Conduct for all persons participating in EFCA activities.
This document will provide a useful set of standards to all those working in FisheriesControl and other missions falling under the EUCoastGuard functions. Indeed, EFCA joint deployment plans, other operational plans, missions falling under European Coast Guard function and activities at sea and ashore represent the European Union, its professionalism and values including the rule of law and full respect of fundamental rights.
Officials from West Africa have been trained by EFCA in Vigo on Control and Inspection, in the framework of the cooperation project PESCAO this week. The officials came from Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Mauritania, Ghana, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Benin and Nigeria and were selected in cooperation with our two partner organisations, the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) and the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC).
The offshore patrol vessel chartered by the European Fisheries Control Agency, the Lundy Sentinel, will carry out a patrol in European Western Waters in cooperation with the Irish fisheries control authority, the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority.
This operation takes place in the framework of the Joint Deployment Plan (JDP) for Western Waters. The Joint Deployment Plan is the legal and operational vehicle the EFCA uses for pooling fisheries control means of the Member States at sea, in the air and ashore based on a regional risk analysis developed by the Member States and EFCA.
The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) has adopted its Programming Document for 2019 in its Administrative Board meeting of 10 October 2018, the day after the celebration of its 10th year anniversary in Spain (Vigo). The Programming Document confirms that the core mission of the Agency will continue to be enshrined in the operational coordination of Member States' control and inspection activities.
The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) celebrates this week its first decade in Spain in the city of Vigo on 9 October 2018. The EFCA moved its headquarters from Brussels to Spain (Vigo), in July 2008 in accordance with its founding regulation.