Two new fisheries patrol vessels have been delivered to the authorities in Tunisia, supplied via the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Hannibal 3 and Hannibal 4 were handed over in the port of La Goulette to the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries (MARHP) at a ceremony attended by Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries Abdelmonem Belati and by Japan’s ambassador to Tunisia Takeshi Osuga, and Mayumi Miyata, the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s representative in Tunisia.
The two vessels are intended to provide Tunisia’s General Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture with capacity to control and monitor Tunisian-flagged fishing boats and promote the sustainable management of fishery resources in Tunisian waters.
‘As part of the common and ongoing co-operation between the two countries, today we are receiving two control vessels which will support the State’s efforts to fight against all forms of illegal fishing and preserve national fishery resources,’ Abdelmonem Belati said.
According to JICA, this project is part of the dynamic of a long co-operation between the governments of Japan and Tunisia and a close collaboration between JICA and the MARHP, for the development of the fishing industry in the region.
‘Control of illegal fishing has been strengthened in the international community in recent years. The Tunis Declaration adopted at TICAD 8 in 2022 underscored the importance of promoting efforts to combat IUU fishing’ said ambassador Osuga, expressing his hope that ‘the two new vessels will help strengthen Tunisian capacity to effectively face this challenge.’
Japan has a long track record of co-operation with Tunisia through the construction of research and monitoring vessels for fisheries, the establishment of a fishing school in Bizerte, and through technical co-operation.
