Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea
PESCAO
Improving Fisheries Governance in Western Africa
The Programme for Improved Regional Fisheries Governance in Western Africa (PESCAO) is a five-year, European Union-funded initiative, implemented with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Commission. PESCAO has a budget of EUR 15 million and is running from 2018 to 2023.
PESCAO will support the ECOWAS to facilitate cooperation with development partners and the two-sub regional fisheries organizations, the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) and the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC). PESCAO, through its cooperation with the FCWC will support and strengthen existing fisheries mechanisms, such as the West Africa Task Force (WATF), while building new partnership, such as between the FCWC and the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).
The objective of PESCAO is to enhance the contribution of fisheries resources to sustainable development, food security, and poverty alleviation in West Africa. This is being achieved through three components:
- Addressing regional fisheries policy at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) level, which will provide both a framework for regional fisheries priorities and also strengthen the impact of regional fisheries bodies by defining more effectively the role and relationships of each organization.
- Building the capacities of competent national and regional Monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) authorities to deter IUU fishing;
- Demonstrating the added value of coordinated approaches for shared fisheries management. The intervention is completely consistent with the regional strategic agenda and will complement EU and other donors’ actions at the national level.
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