Project ‘‘Supporting the SRFC to develop co-management initiatives and include MPAs in fisheries management in West Africa’’

Concerned countries:	Cape-Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone
Funding source:	French Development Agency
Implementation agency:	SRFC
Budget :	5.000.000 Euro
Project duration:	5 years (2008 – 2013)

Fishing has an important economic and social importance for West African countries. Overexploitation imposes today to better manage and exploit resources that have become scarce, especially through co-management and the development of marine protected areas (MPAs). The regional dimension is essential due to the existence of shared stocks, the mobility of stakeholders and cross-border activities, and also of the advantages associated with the coordination and exchange of information between neighbouring countries.

The project should contribute to ensuring political, economic and environmental stability in West Africa through a better management of fisheries and of the marine environment and an improved capacity to manage conflicts of use between stakeholders and countries.

The project will have environmental effects (long-term productivity of ecosystems), economic and social (poverty alleviation through the maintenance of GDP fishing in the subregion and related jobs, including many jobs for women), financial (sustainable funding of MPA), institutional (setting up of co-management and participatory mechanisms for MPAs in the States, strengthening of the SRFC) and political (prevention of conflicts of use and stability in the West African sub-region).

Objectives

The project objectives are defined as follows:

Fishing and the marine environment are better managed at the biological, ecological, economic and social levels in the SRFC member states with regard to the criteria of ecosystem integrity, sustainability, economic performance, poverty reduction, social and territorial balances;
the capacity to handle conflicts of use between countries of the subregion are improved and the political cohesion of the subregion is consolidated.

The project main objective is:

to enable the SRFC member states to implement systems for the sustainable management of fisheries and the marine environment at biological, economic and social levels

specific objectives

The project's specific objectives, which correspond to its three components, are as follows:

Strengthening the role of co-management in the development and implementation of fisheries policies of the SRFC member states;
Promote MPA that contribute to the sustainable management of fisheries by developing tools for understanding the functioning of MPA and assessing their impact on fisheries;
Strengthen the capacity of the SRFC in terms of support and advice for the development of fisheries policies incorporating the concepts of co-management and ecosystem approach.

Components and expected results:

Component 1 – Development of co-management mechanisms

Component 1.1. State of the art

Component 1.2. Strengthening of professional organisations

Component 1.3. Participatory design of fisheries management plans

Component 1.4. Support phase II of the project entitled SHARING (co-management of the stocks of mules, courbine and tassergal shared by Mauritania and Senegal)

Component 1.5. Setting of devices for the centralization of fishes (DCP) in Cape Verde

Component 1.6. Participation in the project entitled management of small pelagic fishes that involves Morocco and the SRFC countries.

Component 2 – Inclusion of MPA in fisheries management

Component 2.1. knowledge of MPA and their role in the sectorial management (state of the art)

Component 2.2. Design and in situ testing of monitoring and assessment methods of the efficiency of MPA for fisheries management.

Component 2.3. Supporting selected MPA.

Component 2.4. Supporting initiatives for the creation of new MPA.

Component 3 – Strengthening the SRFC capacity and project management skills

Component 3.1. Capitalization

Component 3.2. Training

Component 3.3. Dissemination, communication and networking

Component 3.4. Project management that includes a project management support component)

Achievements

Within the framework of its management and support to the mastery of work, the project will fund two positions (accountant and Program Assistant). The project also provides technical assistance to the Center for Applied Fisheries Research of Guinea Bissau, in the form of volunteer's post (France-Volunteers, ex-AFVP).

The Program of Technical and Financial execution for the year 2010 has been adopted. The execution of the technical phase began with the launching of two tenders for a consultation on co-management and AMP. The development of the diagnosis of Professional Organizations (PO) is being negotiated with WADAF. Concerning the participative development of management plans, only the request of the Secretary of state in charge of fisheries of Guinea Bissau for co-financing of the "Rias" project has been received at the SRFC.

Within the framework of support to the management mechanisms of the DCP Cape Verde, a preliminary offer has been submitted by the INDP and negotiations are in progress. For the monitoring of the efficiency of MPAs in fisheries management and support to selected MPAs, an objective contract has been signed between the SRFC and IUCN for a total amount of 920 000 € for 4 years.

As support to Phase II of the PARTAGE project, an objective contract has been signed between the SRFC and IUCN for a total amount of 450.000 € for four years. For an extension of the project, "Towards concerted policies for sustainable management of small pelagics in North West Africa ", until December 2010 a project document was elaborated in October 2009 and has been approved by the AFD for an amount of 280 000 €.

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