The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) has adopted the first joint deployment plan (JDP) in the Indian Ocean. JDPs are the legal and operational vehicle through which EFCA organises the coordination of fisheries control activities of Member States.
The European Commission adopted a specific control and inspection programme (SCIP) applicable to the fishing activities by EU purse seine and support vessels on tropical tuna species (yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna, skipjack tuna) in the Indian Ocean. and EFCA coordinates the joint inspection and surveillance activities by Member States concerned through a Joint Deployment Plan.
The Indian Ocean JDP will entail coordination by EFCA of the inspection activities by France, Italy and Spain in ports in the Indian Ocean region where the landings of the three tropical tuna species take place. The coordination activities will include the exchange of data and information, the application of joint risk management, and the deployment of joint teams of Union inspectors.
¨The adoption of this JDP means a great step forward in the inspection effort of these important fisheries in the Indian Ocean region,¨ said Susan Steele, EFCA Executive Director. ¨EFCA builds upon a long and profound experience in the cooperation of national inspection activities through the JDP framework, which has been successfully implemented already for many years for fisheries in EU sea basins and international waters, including the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Western Waters of the North-East Atlantic, NAFO and NEAFC. ¨
Workshop in Mozambique with the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC)
Moreover the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) is providing technical support through a workshop on risk management in fisheries in the area.
The workshop is organised in the framework of the EU funded programme ECOFISH in close cooperation with the Indian Ocean Commission, bringing together officials in charge of inspection and control of fisheries, from 9 countries (Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, France (Reunion islands), Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya), over 3 days in Maputo.
