This multidisciplinary workshop in Casablanca was attended by 20 participants from the four countries and representatives of some regional and international organizations. It falls under the CCLME Demonstration Project 1on “transboundary sustainable management of shared small pelagic fish in northwest Africa based on the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries framework. The workshop was jointly organized by the CCLME project, the EAF-Nansen project (both of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the seven-nation Subregional Fisheries Commission
Around the globe, small pelagic resources are endangered by overfishing, poor fishing practices, pollution and other human activities. The main small pelagic fish species found in northwest African waters are sardines, sardinella, bonga shad and mackerel. These are also the most abundant fish stocks in the CCLME. These fish species live in coastal waters and close to the sea surface – not at the very bottom. Oceanic (also known as offshore) pelagics live in vast deep waters beyond the continental shelf, but during some seasons of the year they also move closer inshore. Small pelagics are an important source of food, protein and employment for millions of coastal West Africans. The Food and Agricultural Organization says some 61 million people are involved in inland fisheries worldwide; over half of these being women.
The CCLME project includes a small project whose objective is “to promote multi-country agreements on subregional resource assessment, policies and plans for sustainable management of transboundary-shared stocks of small pelagic fish species that live in the upwelling zone between Morocco and southern Senegal”.
The CCLME project (which is to protect the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem) is funded by the Global Environment Facility, the participating countries and partners. It is implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme.
