The Task Force Putting An End To West African Tuna Theft
Emulating the successful Fish-i initiative in East Africa, the introduction of the West Africa Task force (WATF) has seen the mobilization of government fisheries bodies acting together to oversee the management and protection of fish stocks in the Gulf of Guinea. A vast region of rich tuna fishing grounds covering almost 1,060 square kilometers, West African waters endure incredibly high levels of IUU activities, with the area losing an estimated USD 300 million to illegal fishing annually, according to FCWC.
Representing an alliance of Fishery Committees for West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) members; Togo, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, the WATF has seen unprecedented cohesion between member nations in the implementation of robust fisheries laws and management of stocks.
Tuna catches flagged to WATF member nations drastically fell by over 50 percent between 2013 and 2014, underpinning the need to protect stocks from illegal exploitation and overfishing. A study conducted around the same period by UK-based NGO Environmental Justice Foundation estimated some 37 percent of total catches within West African Waters to be IUU, with the region experiencing the highest levels of illicit catch in the world according to its report.
Duncan Copeland of fisheries intelligence organization Trygg Mat Tracking (TMT) told Atuna that limited resources and poor management of fisheries in the Gulf of Guinea has seen nations benefit minimally in the past from these vast resources off their coastline. While capacity limitations in terms of vessels, internet connection and language barriers, have so far impeded earlier attempts at cross national cohesive regulatory fishery programs, which the WATF has tirelessly worked to change.
At its heart, the WATF’s purpose is to serve as a platform for international cooperative efforts in the Guinea Gulf, to protect and monitor member nations’ coasts from illicit fishing activities, to operationalize regional MCS cooperation and information sharing agreements, and to provide the necessary technical support to party nations. It is formed on the backbone of East Africa’s successful Fish-i task force, celebrated by many as a blueprint for other nations in Africa and further afield, to regain control and management over their EEZs.
A regional communications platform, technical support and capacity training for the task force is provided by TMT in cooperation with Stop Illegal Fishing (SIF), with activities supported by NORAD (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation). By facilitating regional information sharing and the development of operational capacity among regional fisheries in the gulf, Copeland believes local authorities will strengthen their capabilities to effectively act on fisheries intelligence gathered, enhancing compliance between both national and international fisheries regulations.
The end of 2015 marked a successful trial year for the task force, seeing a new found due diligence among fisheries, cross-national inspections and a number of successful cooperative arrests and investigations. Though the initiative is still in its infancy, the outlook is positive, amidst the considerable progression noted in the force’s short existence.
Commenting on the success of the initiative, Seraphin Dedi, Secretary General of FCWC noted, “all countries are now actively participating on the WATF communications platform. This is bringing immediate benefits to the regions MCS efforts as information is exchanged and acted upon in real time.”
As of now, no timeframe has been made for additional member states, as the group seeks to bolster progress made to date, with member nations leading the decision process. Realizing that alone, no party nation could solve the problems the region suffers as a whole from IUU, the WATF has found strength in unity and paves a way for greater fishery management of the region as a whole.