In July Secure Fisheries attended the Indian Ocean Commission’s Regional Fisheries Surveillance Plan meeting. About 150 delegates attended, representing Somalia, Comoros, France/Reunion, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, and Tanzania. Senior Program Manager Robert Mazurek gave a presentation on Secure Fisheries’ current efforts in combatting IUU fishing in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). The last day featured a ministerial declaration based on recommendations from the meeting, focused on five themes to combat IUU fishing in the Western Indian Ocean:
- Legal, policy, and institutional framework
- Strengthening technical and human capacity at national and regional levels
- Strategic Intelligence and information exchange
- Regional and international cooperation
- Sustainable funding
Secure Fisheries will work with the Indian Ocean Commission to help execute these new mandates.
