Sub Regional Fisheries Commission

Project: Towards Regional Policies for Small Pelagics Sustainable Fisheries in North-West Africa

Event: Regional Seminar on mechanisms for management of shared stocks of small pelagics in northwest Africa

Please find herewith the latest version of the agenda (EN or FR) and information about the meeting e.g. terms of reference (EN or FR) and logistics (EN or FR). Relevant activities and meeting documents can be found in the column to the right. Presentations can be found here.

The seminar is an activity of the project “Towards regional policies for sustainable fisheries for small pelagic in North West Africa” and is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Development cooperation programme

This project is an activity executed by the Sub-regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) which has an office in Dakar (Senegal). A major aim of the project is to support the process leading to coordinated policies and management of the small pelagic fisheries between the countries bordering the Canary Current upwelling system (especially Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania and Morocco).

During the seminar to be held in Dakar (date April 15, 16 and 17, 2009) the objectives are as follows :

1. Present and validate the conclusions and proposals of the study relating to the legal and institutional aspects of the concerted management of small pelagics shared stocks in North-West Africa
   
2. Present various experiences in the matter of shared stocks management and highlight the relevance of certain aspects for West African pelagic fish stocks management
   
3. Elaborate a regional action plan based on a concerted management mechanism
   

The main expected outcome of this workshop is the elaboration of a regional action plan, defining the measures to be undertaken at the level of the four applicable States. It is also to lead to a sensitisation on the necessity of institutional cooperation for the conservation of small pelagic shared stocks.

Over the years, several initiatives in the North West Africa with the support of various partners (FAO, research institutes, SRFC, COMHAFAT, etc.) show a willingness to strengthen the cooperation for the development of small pelagic shared stocks.

Since 2001, the yearly meetings of the FAO Working Group on the « Assessments of small pelagics off the North-West Africa » provide a good deal of indications on the states of the stocks and also give advice concerning management measures to be undertaken.

The present step consists in dealing with the governance aspects of small pelagics management at the regional level for the following countries: the Gambia, Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal.

For more information, please contact the Project Coordinator, Mr. Hachim El Ayoubi. [email protected]