Concerned countries :

Cape-Verde, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone

 Funding source:

MAVA / DGIS

Implementation agency:

FIBA / SRFC

Budget :

750.000 Euros

Project duration :

4 years (01/2004 – 12/2007)

 

The SRFC Member states, aware of the risk of rapid collapse of stocks and Stripes and Sharks and their impact on biological diversity, committed themselves, through the PSRA-Sharks project, to develop a strategy for the conservation and sustainable management of Sharks in the sub region. This commitment was first reflected in the membership taken in the FAO International Plan of Action for Sharks in 1999. The Subregional Action Plan for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (PSRA-Sharks), adopted in 2001 by the SRFC, started in 2002. It involves various aspects related to research, studies and field investigations, the development of management measure, the facilitation of their implementation and the harmonization of management actions and rules at sub regional level.

Objectives

The objective of the project is:

  • Conservation and sustainable management of the populations of sharks.

The specific objectives are:

  • Support the implementation of the PSRA-sharks and the generation of tools for the management of the populations of sharks.
  • Develop a pilot programme to support the change of profession of the stakeholders specialised stakeholders of the shark exploitation industry in the SRFC member countries.
  • Valorize and consolidate the experiences of the project through efforts aiming at capitalizing the concerned experiences including the communication.

Components and expected results:

1.Supporting the implementation of the PSRA-sharks and the sharks population management tools:

  • National and sub regional capacities are strengthened in the area of species’ identification, biological information and catches related data collection by the different fisheries;
  • The fishing capacities, stakeholders and the organisation of the industry at local and sub regional levels are studies and described in documented surveys. Local traditional knowledge is taken into account within a scientific approach focused on the acquisition of knowledge on the ecobiology of sharks’ species.
  • The member states bring in changes in their statistic systems for monitoring fisheries production systems allowing the monitoring of catches by group of shark species and by fishery in a harmonized way at sub regional level.
  • Available information is communicated to the industry stakeholders and to the involved parties under an appropriate format? Participatory mechanisms will help formulate and propose to the managers of the resources some measures that will be used to manage the shark fishery.
  • Submission by one or several member states of the proposals for the registration of threatened species to the annexes during the CITES Conference of Parties.

2.Develop a pilot programme to support the change of profession of stakeholders specialized in the sharks exploitation industry in the SRFC member states :

  • Actions aiming at the change of profession for the main stakeholders of the industry are identified;
  • Actions aiming at supporting the change of profession for the main stakeholders of the industry are implemented.
  • Actions aiming at supporting the change of profession are monitored and assessment documents published.

3.Valorize and consolidate the project experiences through efforts made by capitalizing on these and also at the level of the communication:

  • Documents making the recapitulation of the experience built and also of the project activities are generated and published;
  • Didactic documents for schools, socio Professional organisations (SPO) and national institutions are written and distributed;
  • Books and press coverages on the sharks and their exploitation are made and broadcasted;
  • Communication actions are taken towards the public and the media about the problematic subject of the exploitation of sharks and the results obtained by the PSRA-Sharks for sustainable management.

Achievements

This project is being implemented since 2004 with the technical and financial support of FIBA. Its main objective is the conservation and management of shark populations (rays and sharks).

During the period 2004-2010, with the development of National Action Plans for the conservation of Sharks (NAP-Sharks) in the seven countries of the SRFC, some progress have been achieved in the improvement of knowledge on the populations of Sharks, the monitoring of their fisheries and in the analysis of their economic and social importance. The project succeeded, amongst other things, in setting up an Elasmobranches Observatory and conduct research actions to reduce Shark by-catches in industrial fisheries.

It also enabled the identification of pilot actions for the re-conversion of specialized actors and the implementation of re-conversion pilot actions women processing sharks in Senegal. The project is open to international collaboration and integration in the global dynamics of conservation of sharks through its involvement in numerous meetings and international conferences. The scientific information produced and the various collected opinions of experts and professionals confirmed over-exploitation of most species.

News related to the project: 
  • Regional workshop on measures for improving the conservation of sharks in West Africa. More...
  • National awareness workshop on the prohibition of finning in Senegal. More...
  • Workshop for the restitution and validation of the findings of the mission to sensitize and train the “sharks” focal points of SRFC countries. More...
  • Preparatory meeting of the 16th Conference of Parties to the CITES (CoP 16) - Conservation of Sharks in West Africa and role of the CITES. More

 

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