The WEST AFRICA TASK FORCE – COOPERATION COLLABORATION COMMUNICATION report captures: a detailed description of the fisheries situation in the FCWC region before and during the existence of the West Africa Task Force; an overview of the WATF and how it works; successes chalked; activities undertaken by the Task Force; and the next steps, moving forward.
“Using our Cooperation, Collaboration, Communication approach, the West Africa Task Force has made significant progress in the fight against illegal fishing in the FCWC region during the three years of its activity. This has been made possible through the hard work and contributions of partners, the technical team and members of the Task Force. We, therefore, look forward to further collaborations to ensure the continued success of the FCWC and the WATF,” explained the Secretary General of the FCWC, Mr Seraphin Dedi Nadje.
The West Africa Task Force brings together the six member countries of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) – Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Togo – to tackle illegal fishing and stop the trade in illegally caught fish. The Task Force is facilitated by the FCWC Secretariat and supported by a Technical Team that includes Trygg Mat Tracking (TMT), Stop Illegal Fishing and NFDS, with funding from the Norwegian Cooperation Agency (NORAD). Through active cooperation, information sharing and facilitating the operations of national interagency working groups, the West Africa Task Force is working together to stop illegal fishing.
Therefore, FCWC appeals for more partnerships to further operationalise the activities of the West Africa Task Force, including planning and conducting joint operations (air and sea), with possible chartering of vessels / aircrafts, aimed at clamping down on and ending illegal fishing in the gulf of Guinea.
