Sixth FISH-i Africa Task Force meeting

Sixth FISH-i Africa Task Force meeting

June 2017 — Per Erik Bergh (MD), Sandy Davies (Technical Director), Mark Ssemakula (Project Officer), Sally Frankcom (Communications Officer), Mathew Markides (Research Assistant) attended the sixth meeting of the FISH-i Africa Task Force in Johannesburg, South Africa on June 28-29, 2017.

Seven Task Force members attended the meeting: Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles and Tanzania with South Africa attending as an observer.  Somalia, who joined FISH-i in 2016 were unable to attend.

The meeting provided opportunity for updates from the region, analysis of ongoing and recent investigations, and a look at fishing activity in the WIO including a newly identified unregulated squid fishery. The responsibility of flag States proved to be a focus of the meeting as well as discussion on the effective implementation of port State measures.

During a review of FISH-i and discussion of future priorities, Task Force members stated, “FISH-i Africa has been a unifying agent, bringing together all the countries of the Western Indian Ocean. We value the amazing cooperation and sharing of information and knowledge and the action and achievements it has brought. FISH-i provides a real sense of satisfaction in the wonderful work we have been doing.”