Mombasa: African nations have been urged to strengthen regional collaboration to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, a growing threat to food security and aquatic biodiversity. Kenya alone is estimated to lose up to Sh40 billion annually due to the vice.
According to Kenya News Agency, speaking during the opening of an Expert Training Workshop on Strengthening Regional Capacity on Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance (MCS) Systems to Combat IUU Fishing, Mr. Joseph Mahongah, Acting Director of Fisheries and Aquaculture at the State Department for the Blue Economy and Fisheries, highlighted the significant losses Kenya incurs despite robust legal reforms. The training, organized by the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) in partnership with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), is being held in Mombasa.
The three-day training, themed ‘Strengthening Capacity for Regional MCS Systems for Effective Combat of IUU Fishing and Protection of Aquatic Biodiversity and the Environment in the IGAD Region’, aims to address the challenges posed by IUU fishing. ‘IUU fishing remains an ever-present threat due to inadequate fiscal resources, limited technology, and insufficient technical skills,’ stated Mr. Mahongah. He emphasized the urgent need for IGAD member states to harmonize mitigation strategies, noting the transboundary nature of these challenges.
AU-IBAR Fisheries Officer and Animal Production Unit Coordinator, Ms. Hellen Guebama, stressed the importance of collaboration with IGAD as the region faces a surge in IUU fishing and its impact on aquatic biodiversity. She noted that Africa’s annual share of the global IUU catch is estimated at 4.7 million tonnes of fish, valued at $10 billion. Ms. Guebama highlighted the weaknesses in MCS systems leading to unsustainable fishing practices and biodiversity loss, posing serious threats to food security for over 200 million people.
She further asserted that a single-state solution to combating IUU fishing is not feasible, calling for a coordinated regional effort. ‘National and regional priorities and capacities towards collaboration on MCS must be identified and strengthened,’ she stated.
IGAD Senior Blue Economy and Fisheries Expert, Dr. Wassie Antech, underscored the transnational nature of the challenges affecting the region’s water bodies, emphasizing the importance of AU and IGAD cooperation. He described IUU fishing as maritime theft and ecological sabotage on an industrial scale, requiring a synchronised enforcement ecosystem combining technology, legal deterrence, and community empowerment.
Dr. Antech advocated for an integrated approach, addressing challenges from a source-to-sea perspective. He highlighted the need for enforcement of international instruments such as the FAO Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) as a game-changing tool in combating IUU fishing.
