While FCWC Member States are benefitting from the overall PESCAO programme, the direct support to the FCWC Secretariat named the FCWC-PESCAO project is related to component two: ‘building the capacities of competent national and regional MCS authorities to deter IUU fishing’.
This component is directly implemented by FCWC and its partners Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC), European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), TA AGRER. The key result areas of the project are:
- Result 1 – Fisheries legal frameworks are harmonized and consistent with international standard to ensure the proper fight against IUU fishing
- Result 2 – Cooperation between countries, administrations and organizations is facilitated.
- Result 3 – FCWC is equipped with a Regional MCS center with improved linkage to national MCS structure
- Result 4 – Countries’ and FCWC capacities in operational MCS are strengthened, along with their ability to sustain this in the long-term through enhanced training programmes
- Result 5 – Joint regional fisheries/patrol missions are organized in the Gulf of Guinea
- Result 6 – FCWC countries get support in the development of a pool of regional observers.
FCWC Activities under this project include:
- Reviewing national fisheries legal frameworks to ascertain the baseline, identify gaps in legislation and provide recommendations on how to strengthen legislation to best reflect international and regional commitments.
- Reviewing the status of FCWC member’s accession to relevant international instruments to identify areas for priority support.
- Supporting Member States to develop and implement their National Plans of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing (NPOA-IUU).
- Supporting the implementation of the FCWC Regional Plans of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing (RPOA-IUU) to ensure cohesion with the FCWC Regional Fisheries Management Plan.
- Advancing cooperation between FCWC and regional maritime security organisations.
- Progressing regional measures that will advance cooperative action, such as the FCWC Regional Strategy on Transhipment.
- Establishing institutional linkage with ECOWAS for preparation and implementation of ECOWAS’ regional fisheries policy.
- Establishing an FCWC Regional Vessel Monitoring Center, which is anticipated to become functional in early 2020.
- Ongoing information-sharing on fishing vessels flagged or licensed within the region.
- Assessing human and institutional capacity needs, across the FCWC region.
- Establishing a ‘train the trainers’ programme on fisheries control and inspection procedures, and to build a pool of specialist trainers within the region.
- Developing partnerships with relevant regional centres of excellence and national academic institutions to support and engage in training activity.
- Participating in the regional fisheries patrols organized by SRFC, to ensure a transfer of knowledge for the future joint patrols in the FCWC region.
- Developing cooperation with maritime centres and fisheries authorities.
- Assessing and building on existing national observer programmes, to develop a Pilot Regional Fisheries Observer Programme.