PATROLS FOR THE MONITORING, CONTROL AND SURVEILLANCE OF FISHING ACTIVITIES IN WATERS UNDER CONGOLESE JURISDICTION
Joint patrol operations between the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries relating to the monitoring, control and surveillance of maritime fishing activities in waters under Congolese jurisdiction were officially launched on Friday 9 September 2022 on the multipurpose quay of the Port of Pointe-Noire, by Pascal Robin ONGOKA, Director of Cabinet of the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.
These patrol operations symbolise the implementation of component Three of the FIVE components of the project to improve the conditions of maritime fishing and the sustainability of its management in Congo, financed by the European Union and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD). This component relates to the monitoring, control and surveillance of maritime fishing activities.
It is thus, shortly after twelve o’clock, local time, that the patrol boat 201 of the third fleet of the thirty-first naval grouping of the National Navy weighed anchor on the authorization of the Director of Cabinet of the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Pascal Robin ONGOKA, in the presence of the Rear Admiral, Chief of Staff of the National Navy and other personalities. In addition to the crew members, fisheries inspectors and representatives of all the administrations concerned by this issue took part in the patrol boat.
Well before this launching phase, the phase of sensitisation of industrial shipowners, artisanal fishermen and civil society actors on the objectives of these patrols and the enforcement actions they will carry out against offenders, perpetrators of illegal fishing, took place in the conference room of the administrative headquarters of the Pointe-Noire Port Authority.
To this effect, the Director of Cabinet of the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Pascal Robin ONGOKA, defining the objectives of these patrol operations, not without thanking the European Union (EU), the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the General Management of the Pointe-Noire Port Authority and the Technical Assistance of the project, declared: “The patrol operations that we are launching today will enable the Republic of Congo to fight against undeclared and unregulated illegal fishing, as well as to give a particular dimension to its action at sea. That said, we are asking the Navy to be ruthless and intractable when it comes to enforcing the authority of the State, because we no longer want anarchy in this sector of the sea“.
The launch of these patrols, which is a first, was widely welcomed by the Permanent Secretariat of the Interministerial Committee for State Action at Sea and in Continental Waters through the voice of its advisor in charge of studies and forecasting, Jean Pierre Aubin COUSSOUD “…we welcome this initiative which we support and accompany. Indeed, the launch of these first patrols effectively materialises the missions of the Permanent Secretariat of the Interministerial Committee for State Action at Sea“.
These patrols constitute a paradigm shift in the monitoring, control and surveillance of fisheries, said the project’s Technical Assistant, BOUBACAR BA, adding that “From now on, industrial fishing vessels and small-scale fishing boats will have to get used to being stopped by the patrol boats of the National Navy in order to be controlled by fisheries inspectors in accordance with international standards“.
Ultimately, these patrols demonstrate the Congolese government’s desire to strengthen fisheries control and surveillance activities in order to ensure the sustainable management of these fisheries resources. It is deplorable that the exploitation of this important resource is not carried out in strict compliance with the law and regulations in force. This does not contribute to the rational and sustainable management of this national ecosystem.
By Antoine Dustell Mbama, Correspondent of Maritimafrica in the Republic of Congo
