The FCWC West Africa Task Force (WATF) organized an interagency workshop in Lomé, Togo as part of ongoing efforts to support FCWC Member State implementation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA), and used the opportunity to facilitate a National Working Group (NWG) meeting between 21 to 22 July 2022.
The main aim of the workshop was to support the progress of PSMA implementation by reviewing the state of interagency cooperation in Togo, discussing previously identified regulatory gaps, agree on best practices and priority areas for technical support, and to provide additional training to officers whose duties include port controls, inspections and decisions related to the PSMA process.
Key discussions included providing updates on national IUU fishing cases and lessons learned; reviewing the status of implementation of the FCWC’s regional measures, including the integration of the national VMS into the FCWC Regional VMS system; providing a national update on the implementation efforts of the PSMA and the technical aspects of its implementation; as well as a review of the technical support is being provided by the WATF technical team.
The workshop participant group was made up of representatives from the national agencies of the WATF National Working Group which included the Fisheries Department, Interpol NCB, the Navy, the Environmental Directorate, the National Gendarme, the Maritime Directorate, and other relevant port-based inspectors.
The West Africa Task Force is facilitated by the FCWC Secretariat and supported by a Technical Team that includes TMT and Stop Illegal Fishing (SIF).