A national interagency workshop was held in Beau Vallon, Seychelles between 28 and 30 August 2023 as part of the work under the ECOFISH project to strengthen interagency cooperation for fisheries MCS in EA-SA-IO countries.
The workshop was attended by representatives from the following institutions: Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy, Seychelles Fisheries Authority (SFA), Seychelles Coast Guard, Seychelles Air Force, Seychelles Police Force, Department of Immigration, National Information Sharing and Coordination Centre (NISCC), Seychelles Maritime and Safety Authority (SMSA), Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Seychelles Port Authority. Also present were representatives from TMT and the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC).
TMT is working with the IOC and seven countries in the region to improve interagency cooperation on fisheries MCS by first assessing their existing status of interagency cooperation, and then holding a workshop to identify gaps and priority areas for future action while discussing possible means of improving cooperation.
The workshop provided an opportunity to:
Present the methodology used for this evaluation and the results of the preliminary desk-based analysis carried out prior to the workshop;
Refine this initial gap analysis;
Consider the current systems in place for four priority areas that require interagency cooperation, as identified during the first steps of the analysis (information exchange and communication; joint patrols; licencing of fishing vessels; port State measures);
Consider the extent of interagency cooperation currently in place and discuss how this cooperation could be reinforced;
Discuss tools and approaches likely to facilitate interagency cooperation, including examples from other countries and regions and
Identify possible next steps that could be taken to strengthen interagency cooperation in Seychelles.
Presentations were made by the IOC, SFA, TMT, Skylight (Earth Ranger) and the NISCC. Each presentation offered an opportunity for information sharing and the building of new or existing cooperation networks.
The final deliverable of this workshop was a report containing approved text of all the agency interviews, plus a priority list of future action items to build and secure the future of interagency cooperation in the fight against IUU in the Seychelles.
ECOFISH is implemented by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and funded by the EU. This project builds on the foundations of SMARTFISH and the Regional Fisheries Surveillance Project (PRSP) and this activity aims to identify areas of fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) where interagency cooperation is needed and consider how such cooperation can be formalised.
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