An outcome of an inter-agency workshop held earlier this month in Moroni, organised by the National Fisheries Control and Surveillance Centre (CNCSP) in collaboration with the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and funded by the European Union (EU), the Union of Comoros will soon have its National Committee dedicated to the fight against IUU fishing.
The Comoros workshop was the first in a series of seven national workshops that TMT is facilitating for the coming months. TMT’s mission in this context is to conduct an assessment of inter-agency cooperation in fisheries MCS in the countries participating in the IOC Regional Fisheries Surveillance Plan (PRSP), and to support the establishment or strengthening of national inter-agency cooperation mechanisms.
The Union of Comoros, identified since 2017 by the EU as a non-cooperating third country in opposing IUU fishing, has been trying over the past six years to get this red card lifted as this prevents, among other things, the export of fish products to the European market or the negotiation of a Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) with the EU – the previous agreement was ended in 2018 following the red card.
Challenges identified at the time have led over recent years to the signature of bilateral cooperation agreements between national administrations in order to facilitate cooperation in areas such as the conduct of joint fisheries surveillance patrols or the registration of fishing vessels. The latter point is crucial for the lifting of the red card, as Comoros runs an open registry and previously allowed for the flagging of fishing vessels operating globally without having the means to monitor their operations and assume flag state responsibilities.
The establishment of a National Commission will allow for monitoring the execution of those bilateral conventions, as well as facilitating other joint activities considered as priorities for small-scale fisheries MCS in Comoros. This includes the establishment of a system for keeping track of infractions detected by all agencies mandated for fisheries enforcement, and facilitating the case-building process and the ensuing administrative and legal proceedings.
The Comoros workshop and the upcoming events in Tanzania, Mozambique, Seychelles, Madagascar, Kenya and Mauritius are organised under the ECOFISH project, an EU-funded project implemented by IOC. The project’s component on marine fisheries MCS provides critical funding for the running of joint MCS operations under the PRSP, the first African regional patrol mechanism established in 2007.
