4th PSMA Regional Coordination Meeting in Senegal: Status of implementation of the agreement in Africa, the Near East and the Mediterranean
More than 80 delegates took part in the fourth and final week-long regional coordination meeting for the year 2022 to discuss the implementation of the 2009 FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA).
The Dakar meeting for states and regional fisheries bodies interested in the African, Near East and Mediterranean regions focused on the status of implementation of the PSMA in the three regions.
With regard to the regions targeted by this meeting, Matthew Camilleri, Head of FAO’s Global and Regional Fisheries Processes Team, said that more than half of the current parties to the PSMA are countries in Africa, the Near East and Europe, as are the next two countries expected to join the agreement in the coming days. Mr Camilleri explained the support that FAO provides to developing States Parties to the PSMA, as well as to States wishing to become Parties, through the FAO Global Capacity Building Programme, which to date has provided assistance to more than 50 countries to build their capacity to combat IUU fishing.
During the meeting, Mr Mehdi Drissi, Senior Partnership Officer on behalf of Dr Gouantoueu Robert Guei, Coordinator of the Sub-regional Office for West Africa (SFW) and FAO Representative in Senegal, pointed out that according to the latest FAO SOFIA report, in 2020, 13% of the world’s marine catches will come from the oceans bordering the African continent and the Near East region, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. In these same fishing areas, 35-63% of the stocks were exploited at unsustainable levels in the same year. Mr Mehdi Drissi stressed the importance of the effective implementation of the WFSP as the first legally binding international instrument and the most cost-effective way for States to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, thereby contributing to the long-term conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources and marine ecosystems. “It is a powerful tool for States and we are pleased to note that there are currently 72 Parties to the PSMA, including the European Union on behalf of its Member States, and that other countries are depositing their instruments of accession as we speak.
This latest Regional Coordination Meeting for 2022 follows previous meetings for Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and the South West and East Pacific regions.
The PSMA Regional Coordination Meetings were established at the first Meeting of the Parties held in Norway in 2017. At the third Meeting of the Parties to the PSMA in 2021, it was suggested that an ad hoc PSMA Strategy Working Group be established to discuss the development of a strategy to improve the effectiveness of the agreement, and the Parties encouraged regional discussions to support this working group.
The regional coordination meeting in Senegal was organized under the patronage of the Government of Senegal with financial support from the Government of Norway and the Government of Germany.
Source & photo : FAO Regional Office for Africa
