MCS capacity-building workshop focused on inland fisheries
February 2025 — Per Erik Bergh (CEO and Managing Director) and Andréa Durighello (Fisheries Expert) travelled to Malawi for a training focused on MCS in inland fisheries. This training, which took place over five days from 17 to 21 February in Lilongwe, was organised with the objective to integrate further inland fisheries countries into regional cooperation through the MCSCC. The Charter Establishing MCSCC states that the MCSCC “shall govern cooperation of Member States in the area of sustainable fisheries management, particularly in MCS activities in the marine and inland waters of the SADC region” (MCSCC Charter, Article 3). However, so far, more focus has been set on marine fisheries. This training was therefore organised with the objective to provide inland fisheries State Parties with MCS tools tailored to the context of inland fisheries, to sensitise them on the MCSCC, and to understand their needs, interests and expectations towards the MCSCC. It was expected that this training would help improve the ability and capacity of MCS officials in inland fisheries State Parties to engage in the work of the MCSCC.
For this training, NFDS worked together with WWF and PROFISHBLUE in consultation with the represented State Parties – Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania (Tanzania), Zambia and Zimbabwe – as well as the Interim Project Management Unit (IPMU) of the MCSCC. Practical exercises implementing the MCS tools provided focussed on major shared waterbodies, including Kariba, Cahora Bassa, Malawi/Niassa/Nyasa and Lake Tanganyika.
“Regional and global focus of MCS activities has largely been on marine fisheries”, recognised Dr. Hastings Zidana, Director of Malawi’s Department of Fisheries. Yet, Malawi, like its neighbours, is also impacted by illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices, which are threatening the sector. Through this training, the MCSCC makes important steps towards ensuring that inland fisheries are reflected in the priorities of national and regional MCS strategies, in line with the 2001 SADC Protocol on Fisheries.
