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"Operation" Sardinelle ", a fishery surveillance operation in which Member States of the Sub-regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) cooperated to detect Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing, took place from 23 to 26 January 2020.
This fisheries surveillance operation was entirely funded by the European Union via the PESCAO program and coordinated and organized by the SRFC. This operation received technical support from EFCA and operational support from France. Representatives of the Fisheries Committee of the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) and of the Gulf of Guinea Inter-regional Network (EU-GOGIN) project participated to the surveillance operation as observers. All participating SRFC Member States made available their updated national list of authorized fishing vessels.
The technical equipment of the national Fisheries Monitoring Centres (e.g. VMS, AIS, radars) as well as the information from the Integrated Maritime Services and satellite images (Copernicus) provided by EFCA made it possible to direct the patrol means to the suspected vessels. Correlations conducted on images collected from "Open Source" satellite services, were also conducted by the SRFC.
The fishery surveillance operation resulted in 58 vessel inspections with the detection of 9 possible non-compliances which are the subject of an investigation by the competent authorities of the Member States concerned.
Covering an area of approximately 1.1 million square kilometers, including the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of Cabo Verde, Mauritania, Senegal and The Gambia, operation "Sardinelle" was coordinated from Senegal FMC and run by the staff of the MCS structures of the Member States involved.
Each SRFC Member State deployed a patrol vessel that patrolled their respective EEZ. The patrol vessel "FERLO" from Senegal and "CDT BOUAN" from the French Navy surveyed the EEZ of The Gambia. Two fishing inspectors from The Gambia were assigned to each of these patrol vessels.
The operation "Sardinelle" was another action organized under the PESCAO project that meets the broader objective of the project, which is the sustainable development and management of fisheries in the West African region. This fisheries surveillance operation complements those already carried out in 2018 and 2019 in the SRFC area.
Denmark has established a new Real-Time Closure in the North Sea for juvenile fish starting from 13/01/2024 to 02/02/2024 23:59 hrs.
Denmark has established a new Real-Time Closure in the North Sea for juvenile fish starting from 21/01/2024 to 12/03/2024 23:59 hrs.
Denmark has established a new Real-Time Closure in the North Sea starting from 22/02/2024 to 13/03/2024 23:59 hrs.
Denmark has established a new Real-Time Closure in the North Sea starting from 10/03/2024 to 30/03/2024 23:59 hrs.
Denmark has established a new Real-Time Closure in their waters of The Skagerrak starting from 13/03/2024 to 02/04/2024 23:59 hrs.
The Netherlands has established two new Real-Time Closures in the North Sea starting from 08/03/2024 to 29/03/2024 23:59 hrs.
Belgium has established a new Real-Time Closure in the North Sea starting from 14/03/2024 to 03/04/2024 23:59 hrs.
During the morning of next Friday, 15 March 2024, one of the three EFCA offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), the Ocean Protector, will open its doors to authorities invited to the 20th anniversary of the North Western Waters Advisory Council and the Pelagic Advisory Council.
The OPV Ocean Protector is one of the three inspection platforms chartered by the European Fisheries Control Agency. It is operational all year round as a fisheries patrol vessel to support Member States in the different EFCA´s joint deployment plans. The vessel is deployed in the scope of multipurpose operations in the framework of European cooperation on coast guard functions. The vessel, during its operations, is available for supporting other coast guard functions, inter alia, providing support during search and rescue situations, maritime surveillance and pollution response.
Its deployment enhances the EU capacity to improve the effectiveness of fisheries control operations in the EU and beyond.
The celebration of the 20-year anniversary event of the North Western Waters Advisory Council and the Pelagic Advisory Council takes place on 14 March with an event in which the advisory councils will look back over the past 20 years of existence and the role of stakeholder voices in European fisheries´ governance. During the event there will be a dialogue between stakeholders and decision makers on the potential of the regionalisation process to address challenges ahead and on the future of stakeholder participation in reaching the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy.
Summary of the technical data of the vessels
• It is a Multi-Role Emergency Response and Rescue Vessels (ERRV) with overall length of 62 meters.
• It has a Dynamic Position System to better maintain their position and balance the environmental forces such as wind, waves and currents during the duty while reducing fuel consumption to a minimum.
• It is fully equipped with ergonomic and modern onboard facilities to ensure a comfortable stay and an enjoyable working environment during the patrols.
Background
EFCA is a European Union agency that promotes the highest common standards for the control, inspection and surveillance under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). EFCA was established to organise operational coordination activities by the Member States and to assist them to cooperate so as to comply with the rules in order to ensure its effective and uniform application.
The added value of the work of the agency lies in its contribution to sustainable fisheries by enhancing compliance with conservation and management measures and to a European-wide level playing field for the fishing industry.