TEMA (22 July 2020) – The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) Secretariat as part of its implementation of the European Union-funded Improved Regional Fisheries Governance (PESCAO) project received regional vessel monitoring system (VMS) equipment on 9 July 2020.
”The supplementary VMS equipment is part of a key result area of the FCWC-PESCAO project for the establishment of a well-equipped centre for monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) with linkages to national MCS structures to strengthen regional cooperation in combatting IUU fishing and associated crimes” Mr Seraphin Dedi, Secretary-General of FCWC stated.
The regional VMS will serve to monitor all vessels operating in the region and integrate all member countries’ existing national systems, with remote access for countries that do not have a VMS. The VMS equipment will allow in-person access to the system (national and regional), provide training opportunities as well as supplement the remote access to the system that has been operational since March 2020.
The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) as an Intergovernmental body, was established in 2007 with its Secretariat based in Tema, Ghana as its host country, to facilitate cooperation in fisheries management between the member countries: Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. The countries have several shared fish stocks and identified a need for cooperation and shared management of these resources.
