African nations have been urged to strengthen regional collaboration to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, a growing threat to food security and aquatic biodiversity.
Kenya alone is estimated to lose up to Sh40 billion annually due to the vice.
Speaking during the opening of an Expert Training Workshop on Strengthening Regional Capacity on Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) Systems to Combat IUU Fishing and Protect Aquatic Biodiversity and the Environment, the State Department for the Blue Economy and Fisheries, Acting Director of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mr Joseph Mahongah, said Kenya continues to bear significant losses despite robust legal and regulatory reforms.
The training is organised by the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) in partnership with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Mombasa.
The three-day training is held under the theme “Strengthening Capacity for Regional MCS Systems for Effective Combat of IUU Fishing and Protection of Aquatic Biodiversity and the Environment in the IGAD Region”.
“IUU fishing remains an ever-present threat due to inadequate fiscal resources, limited technology and insufficient technical skills to effectively combat the vice. It is estimated that Kenya loses up to Sh45 billion annually due to IUU fishing,” stated Ag. Director Mahongah.
“The loss is attributed to direct economic loss in the value of the resource; threats to food security; social drivers of poverty and unemployment; environmental degradation and health-related opportunity costs,” he added.
Mr Mahongah further emphasised the urgent need for IGAD member states to harmonise mitigation strategies, noting that the challenges are transboundary in nature. “This training offers us an opportunity to retool our MCS experts and harness synergies across Member States for effective MCS undertakings and biodiversity conservation.”
AU-IBAR Fisheries Officer and Animal Production Unit Coordinator, Ms Hellen Guebama, said collaboration with IGAD is timely as the region faces a surge in IUU fishing and its devastating impact on aquatic biodiversity and ecosystems.
She noted that IUU fishing in Africa includes unauthorised fishing in closed areas and seasons, illegal transshipments at sea, the use of forged licences and vessel registrations, unreported and misreported catches, harvesting of Threatened, Endangered and Protected (TEP) species, dumping of toxic waste, and widespread environmental degradation and pollution.
“Africa’s annual share of the global IUU catch is estimated at 4.7 million tonnes of fish, valued conservatively at $10 billion,” said Ms Guebama.
She observed that weak MCS systems have led to rising unsustainable fishing practices, declining populations of valuable species and loss of biodiversity in Africa’s large marine ecosystems and inland waters. These trends pose serious threats to food security, livelihoods and incomes, with an estimated over 200 million people depending on these resources.
“It is common knowledge that a single-state solution to combating IUU fishing is not feasible, as the incidents are largely transboundary. This calls for coordinated regional effort towards combating this menace in African waters,” she stated.
She further underscored the need for capacity building of regional MCS personnel towards combating the IUU fishing menace. “National and regional priorities and capacities towards collaboration on MCS must be identified and strengthened towards comprehensive regional MCS systems.”
IGAD Senior Blue Economy and Fisheries Expert, Dr Wassie Antech, said many challenges affecting the region’s water bodies are transnational and require joint solutions, underscoring the importance of AU and IGAD cooperation in transboundary water governance.
“The fish stocks that provide food security to our communities, livelihoods to artisanal fishers and revenue to national economies are being plundered,” said Dr Antech, describing IUU fishing as maritime theft and ecological sabotage on an industrial scale.
He noted that addressing IUU fishing in the IGAD region requires a synchronised, end-to-end enforcement ecosystem combining technology, legal deterrence and community empowerment through strengthened national and regional MCS capacities. Enforcement of international instruments such as the FAO Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA), he said, is a game-changing tool.
“For many years, we have approached these challenges from a fragmented perspective. When one country strengthens patrols, but its neighbour lacks capacity, illegal fleets simply shift locations,” he observed.
“Similarly, when we conserve biodiversity in one lake but ignore the deforestation that causes siltation upstream, our efforts are nullified. Hence, we promote addressing challenges from a source-to-sea approach, that is, an integrated approach,” he added.
by Sadik Hassan
