Côte d’Ivoire has become the latest country
in the FCWC region to become a party to the Port State Measures Agreement
(PSMA), the first binding international agreement to specifically target
illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire’s President
Alassane Ouattara signed the ratification on
17 September 2019, joining Benin (June 2019), Liberia (May 2019), Ghana
(November 2016), and Togo (December 2016) as parties to the agreement.
Upon receiving the news, FCWC
Secretary-General Seraphin Dedi stated that “the accession of Cote d’Ivoire to
the PSMA is a tremendous achievement highlighting the commitment we have as a
region to block illegal actors from our region. We commend all the stakeholders
involved in the process that has produced such a remarkable result – three of
our Member States becoming a party to the PSMA in a single year! We are all
eager and ready to assist Nigeria to join us in this collaboration to remove
illegally caught fish from the West Africa value chain.“
The PSMA prevents, deters and eliminates IUU fishing by preventing vessels engaged in IUU fishing from using ports and landing their catches. It reduces the incentive of such vessels to continue to operate while it also blocks fishery products derived from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from reaching national and international markets.
