The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) and the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) Nansen Programme of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) organized a regional workshop to score the priority fisheries in the FCWC region using the EAF Implementation Monitoring Tool (EAF IMT) from 29 May to 2 June 2023, Accra, Ghana.

The workshop is being held to promote the use of EAF IMT as a tool for fisheries management, in line with the EAF-Nansen’s 2023 Programme’s workplan.

In his opening speech at the event, FCWC Secretary-General Dr. Gaston Djihinto welcomed the introduction of the tool, stating, “ without doubt, we need to assess the fisheries management measures we implement to not only find its effectiveness but to also discover more efficient ways of implementation. This, I believe, is the purpose of this workshop; to introduce a tool which will enable fisheries managers to assess the implementation of management measures”.

Workshop participants were trained on the use of EAF IMT; and used it to score priority fisheries of the FCWC Member States, evaluate EAF management baselines of the priority fisheries, and to identify the needs and gaps for EAF management at national and regional levels.

The EAF-Nansen Programme of the FAO aims to support regional and country-specific efforts to reduce poverty, improve food and nutrition security, and achieve sustainable fisheries management systems. These aims are in harmony with the FCWC’s 2021-2030 Strategic Action Plan and the FCWC 2023 Theme of the Year Supporting effective fisheries management for a sustainable blue economy, which both include the implementation of the FCWC Regional Fisheries Management Plan.