“‘Blue Africa’ Partnership Seeks to Curb Annual $10B Loss from Illegal Fishing” –USNI

Posted on by

Comparison of Africa size with other continents. From Wikipedia, by Jacopo Bertolotti.

The US Naval Institute News Service reports, 

“Faced with an annual $10 billion loss from Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, West African nations are moving to work together to better understand and police their exclusive economic zones as a group, the head of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe and Africa told USNI News last month.”

Not surprisingly the Coast Guard was involved.

The idea for a combined push emerged at the first African Maritime Forces Summit held in March at Cabo Verde organized by NAVEUR. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan represented the U.S. along with 80 other countries.

Fisheries management in African waters requires regional cooperation. As I noted in a 2014 post, among other problems, there are so many countries in Africa (54 countries, at least 32 with coastlines) that their individual EEZs are too small to manage fishing stocks. If one country attempts to rebuild stocks by reducing fishing, a neighboring country may take advantage of their sacrifice and undo their efforts.

The USNI post talks about replicating something like Joint Interagency Task Force South in U.S. Southern Command. The NAVCENT sponsored Combined Maritime Forces might also serve as a model. There is also the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation that might also serve as a model. Bilateral shiprider agreements could also be useful.

The Coast Guard has been working with African Nations for some time now.

Leave a comment