Antananarivo, July 4, 2023 – Representatives from eight countries in the southwest Indian Ocean are meeting on July 4 and 5, 2023 at the Carlton in Antananarivo, Madagascar, for the 12th meeting of the Enlarged Regional Coordination Unit (UCRE) of the Regional Fisheries Monitoring Plan (PRSP). The aim of the meeting, which was officially opened by the Minister of the Blue Economy and Fisheries of the Republic of Madagascar, is to perpetuate the region’s achievements in the fight against illegal fishing.
“The UCRE, an essential link in our regional system for combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, serves as a bridge between the operational and political spheres. Such a union is essential for coherent, comprehensive, committed and efficient action”, emphasized Vêlayoudom Marimoutou, Secretary General of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC).
The meeting will review proposals for the governance and legal framework of the PRSP, with particular emphasis on the recommendations of the report on the legal audit of the PRSP’s administrative and legal documents, and the Agreement for the establishment of regional mechanisms for the exchange of fisheries information for monitoring, control and surveillance purposes.
Since 2007, the Comoros, France/La Réunion, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Tanzania and the Seychelles have been collaborating by exchanging information and organizing joint fisheries surveillance patrols within the framework of the PRSP, to ensure better monitoring of fishing activities in the region. This approach, supported by the IOC and financed by the EU, aims to ensure the sustainable future of fishing in the south-west Indian Ocean, which contributes 20% of the world’s tuna catch.
These efforts have borne fruit, helping to reduce regional incidents of illegal fishing, increase the number of licenses issued to countries fishing on the high seas, and considerably improve control and surveillance capacity in the region. In addition, the ratio of serious infringements to the total number of offences recorded during fisheries surveillance missions has fallen sharply, reflecting improved compliance by fishermen with the rules governing the 7.23 million km2 of the PRSP cooperation area.
The region is striving to strengthen this initiative in order to overcome past funding obstacles and continue its concerted efforts to preserve its precious fishery resources. “The PRSP’s dependence on external funding, particularly from the EU, is a problem that has been pointed out many times (…) I am therefore delighted that this meeting is paving the way, by adopting a clear approach to the institutionalization of the PRSP,” concludes Florence Van Houtte, Team Leader of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Mauritius and the Republic of Seychelles. This collective approach is essential to protect the marine environment and ensure the sustainability of fishing in the south-west Indian Ocean.
