In May 2021, the Republic of Seychelles produced its first report under the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI). This report was followed a month later by Mauritania’s first report.
Both reports show a serious commitment to implement transparency in fisheries management, an ideal that has been promoted internationally and by the African Union for many years. Unfortunately, in many countries, public information on the fisheries sector is still not available to the public. This is the case in many African countries where fisheries play a key role in development, poverty reduction and food and nutrition security.
Similarly the international community and governments, CAOPA, as an organization working to strengthen the rights and livelihoods of artisanal fishing communities in Africa, recognizes that transparency is an essential element in the management of African fisheries. Mauritania’s action is a positive step towards the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries and the Policy Framework and Reform Strategy for Fisheries and Aquaculture in Africa. While there has been much negative publicity about fisheries in Africa, this is a positive achievement that should be widely recognized and celebrated.
FiTI reports from Seychelles and Mauritania have released vital information on the fisheries sector.
By ensuring that this information is freely available to all, the governments of Mauritania and Seychelles are promoting more informed public debate on fisheries management and in the process building confidence, both nationally and internationally, in the fisheries sector. For artisanal fisheries, the importance of transparency is to ensure that fisheries management decisions are based on the best available information on the artisanal sector. Too often, public information on artisanal fisheries, including post-harvest activities and the role of women, is unavailable and unreliable. This can contribute to the neglect of the issues at stake and the marginalization of the stakeholders in this sector.
FiTI was developed through a multi-stakeholder process involving governments from Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe, representatives of large and small-scale fisheries, and numerous international and national civil society organizations. It provides the only comprehensive standard for what governments should publish about the fisheries sector, and it offers a credible means of verifying that this information is complete and the best available. CAOPA has been involved from the beginning of the FiTI standard development process and is represented on the FiTI Board. Africa plays a key role in the development and promotion of FiTI, whose international secretariat is based in the Seychelles.
2021 Confédération Africaine des Organisations Professionnelles de la Pêche Artisanale