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Note that each application shall contain the following documents:
A detailed curriculum vitae in European format that can be obtained at the following address https://europa.eu/europass/en
A duly completed and signed declaration of honour: Declaration of Honour.
A motivation letter of 2 pages maximum including a clear mention of the post applied for and of your address for correspondence and for invitation to interview.
These three documents should be sent by electronic mail only to:
As part of the project PESCAO, two workshops organised by EFCA on the analysis and preliminary recommendations resulting from the Fisheries Committee for the Western Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) and the Sub-regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) Member Countries’ legal review were held on 22 and 23 May 2019 at SRFC headquarters in Dakar, Senegal.
The main objective of the workshops was to present the analysis and preliminary recommendations resulting from the FCWC and SRFC Member Countries’ legal review carried out by an external expert contracted by EFCA.
Officials from the FCWC and SRFC Member States, in addition to representatives of the FCWC and SRFC Secretariats, the European Commission, the European Union Delegation in Senegal and EFCA attended the workshop.
During the workshop it was provided an overview of the international, regional and sub-regional instruments applicable in the context of the fight against IUU fishing as well as an analysis of the relevant legislation of each country of the two sub-regional organizations.
The workshop also focused heavily on discussing the needs in terms of legal updating and/or implementation for each country, and a preliminary set of recommendations to address those needs.
Following the workshop, EFCA, in collaboration with its PESCAO partners – FCWC and SRFC - will support selected countries in drafting and amending national legislation
The third workshop of the European Coast Guard Functions Forum (ECGFF) on "Multipurpose Maritime Operations" (MMO) held in Catania, Sicily, Italy from 3 to 5 June, highlighted the coordination between the Italian Coast Guard, the Guardia di Finanza, and the cooperation with Italian Navy.
The workshop was organised with the support of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and welcome around 90 delegates from 16 Member States and from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), which are supporting national authorities carrying out Coast Guard functions with EFCA.
Since 2009, the European Forum of Coast Guard Functions voluntarily brings together several national organisations implementing Coast Guard functions in the European Union (EU), European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Schengen area, with the aim of strengthening the so-called Coast Guard cooperation.
The event addressed the issue of complex multipurpose maritime operations, in which several Coast Guard functions are implemented simultaneously, in order to prepare effective and efficient responses to multiple challenges that may arise in a given area of operations. In these contexts, the coordinated participation of units belonging to the different Coast Guard organisations and to the three EU agencies is crucial.
The agenda of the first day's work included a plenary session and three working groups on the different aspects of this activity, with a particular focus on risk management, training, operational and logistical implications.
The concept of MMO was concretely tested on 4 June in the context of an exercise at sea called COASTEX19. Under the operational coordination of the Italian Coast Guard eleven naval assets, three aircrafts and three boarding teams created a complex scenario that simulated activities to combat illegal fishing, fight pollution, search and rescue operations and illegal trafficking.
The human resources and means of the Italian Coast Guard, Guardia di Finanza and Italian Navy, the three EU agencies as well as the Portuguese Navy, the German Federal Police and the Spanish Customs intervened in various moments of the exercise, cooperating with high standards of interoperability and synergy. The delegates participating in the workshop were able to attend as privileged observers all the operations directly from four of the ships engaged in Coastex19.
The workshop concluded today with the presentation of the exercise outcomes during the last preparatory meeting of the Plenary Conference of Heads of Coast Guard organisations to be held in Venice, Italy from 12 to 15 November 2019
For three days, from 18 to 20 September 2019, twenty fisheries inspectors from the Republic of The Gambia were instructed in control techniques at sea and at landing by trainers from the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).
Set up and organized by the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC), this training aims at building the capacities of competent national and regional monitoring, control and surveillance authorities to and deter Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), which is one of the components of the PESCAO programme, financed and implemented since 2018 by the European Union (EU).
Thus, fisheries inspectors from various administrations (Navy, Directorate of Fisheries, Sanitary Inspection and Maritime Authority) have followed theoretical and practical training to become familiar with the different techniques and applicable regulations, in the context of the recent membership of the Republic of The Gambia to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the sustainable fisheries partnership agreement signed between the EU and the Republic of The Gambia.
Inaugurated by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries of the Republic of The Gambia, Mr. Bamba Banja, this training ended with a practical exercise in the fishing port of Banjul, allowing fisheries inspectors from The Gambia to discover new methods of fisheries control and to become familiar with EFCA's e-learning platform.
EFCA is coordinating the control campaign for the bluefin tuna fishery (BFT) in the Mediterranean Sea for 2021 in the framework of its Joint Deployment Plan (JDP). In this context, Member States pool their control and inspection means, in order to carry out jointly control, inspection and surveillance of fishery activities both at sea and ashore.
The objective of the campaign is to ensure compliance with the international and EU rules adopted for the conservation of the bluefin tuna; special attention is given to monitor the activity of purse seiners towing vessels longliners, farms and traps.
This activity is bringing together Member States, the European Commission and EFCA, and counts on the resources of the eight Member States involved in the fishery – Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain –. Inspection and surveillance at sea is carried both in EU waters and international waters and applies to EU and non-EU vessels.
The joint control, inspection and surveillance activities are coordinated using the virtual EFCA coordination center platform, with participation of experts of the member States concerned and EFCA. Overall, inspection and surveillance strategy and daily recommendations are provided on the basis of the daily data and information received by national authorities and from ICCAT, in particular VMS data (Vessel Monitoring System, a satellite-based control system) and catch information.
Background:
In line with ICCAT Recommendation 19-04[1], the purse seine fishing for bluefin tuna shall be permitted in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean during the period from 26 May to 1 July. However, specific derogations are possible in some fishing areas[2].
Fish shall be caged before 22 August of each year unless the farming Contracting Parties and Cooperating non-Contracting Parties (CPC) receiving the fish provides valid reasons including force majeure, which shall accompany the caging report when submitted. In any case the fish shall not be caged after 7 September.
[1] https://www.iccat.int/en/RecRes.asp
[2] By way of derogation, the season in the eastern Mediterranean Sea (FAO fishing areas 37.3.1 Aegean; 37.3.2 Levant), may be open 15 May if a CPC requests it in its fishing plan. By way of derogation, the season in the Adriatic Sea (FAO fishing area 37.2.1) may be open from 26 May until 15 July, for fish farmed in the Adriatic Sea.
Yesterday the European Commission has adopted the recommendation establishing a ‘Practical Handbook’ on European cooperation on coast guard functions. The Handbook will be made available as an online platform operated by EFCA in close cooperation with EMSA, Frontex and the Commission and updated with Agencies’ and Member States information. It contains guidelines, recommendations and best practices for the exchange of information on coast guard functions.
The three EU agencies, EFCA, EMSA and FRONTEX, work closely together under the inter-agency cooperation framework, with the direct support of the European Commission. They provide enhanced support and assistance to the national authorities performing coast guard functions at national and EU level and, where appropriate, at international level. This handbook is a concrete achievement of the EU cooperation on coast guard functions.
The recommendation establishes the handbook as a practical guide for EU civilian and military authorities when carrying out coast guard functions, facilitating close cross-border and cross-sector collaboration among them. The handbook provides a transparent compilation of services and information available through the three agencies. It helps to create synergies and avoid duplication and/or redundancy of effort in the cooperation between Member States and the three agencies, resulting in economies of scale.
The handbook focuses on the five inter-agency cooperation areas: information sharing; surveillance and communication services; capacity building; risk analysis; and capacity sharing. The handbook is mainly limited to cross-sector subjects and covers EU Member States and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States.
The main end users of this handbook are the national authorities for each coast guard function in each Member State, aiming to support them when planning and coordinating activities.
EFCA is leading the inter-agency cooperation areas for capacity building and risk analysis and will ensure in cooperation with EMSA and Frontex sound implementation of this important recommendation to all coast guard functions community.
European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičiusis visited EFCA´s headquarters in Vigo and meet the new Executive Director, Dr. Susan Steele.
EFCA promotes the highest common standards for control under the Common Fisheries Policy, assisting Commissioner Sinkevičius with his mandate of contributing to the European Green Deal.
This day also marked the start of an exciting new chapter and a new voyage for the agency—the arrival of the new vessel means doubling the seagoing assets.