October 2016 - Sandy Davies (Technical Director) and Mark Ssemakula (Project Officer) were in Cotonou, Benin providing technical assistance at the 3rd West Africa Task Force (WATF) meeting from the 24th – 26th October 2016.
The six Task Force member countries of Benin, Côte D’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Togo attended the meeting together with observers representing the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the INTERPOL Fisheries Crime Working Group (FCWG) and INTERPOL. The meeting built on commitments made in the previous Task force meetings, reviewed recent cases, and planned for future activities.
Opening the meeting, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Honourable Delphin O. Koudande, stated that the Task Force is important to the management of fisheries resources in the waters of the six states. He applauded the initiative and highlighted the need for collective action and the implementation of national and regional frameworks.
