Happy Holidays from the Fisheries Transparency Initiative!
As the year ends, it seems like an opportune time to reflect on the past 12 months and what it meant for fisheries transparency endeavours around the world.
Evidently, there is a growing global momentum towards transparency in fisheries management. In 2024, five new countries committed to improving transparency in their fisheries management information by joining the FiTI. First, Chile made a momentous announcement about its intention to join the FiTI at Our Oceans Greece in April. A few months later, Ghana and Comoros announced their public commitments in the same week, followed by Sierra Leone in September and Panama in October. Twelve countries are now committed to increasing access to fisheries information according to the FiTI Standard. And there are promising signs that more countries will join soon!
Furthermore, the national authorities and stakeholders of already committed countries have worked hard this year to implement the requirements of the FiTI Standard. Ecuador, Cabo Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Madagascar, Mauritania, and Seychelles have already published or are in the final stages of publishing their annual FiTI Reports and providing critical access to fisheries information. This tremendous progress would not have been possible without all those national stakeholders who demand more democratic governance of marine fisheries and who put tremendous efforts and passion into making fisheries transparency a norm in their countries.
Needless to say, this has been a team effort. A special thank you to all our colleagues at the FiTI International Secretariat for their energy, hard work, and dedication. Our team has grown significantly over the last 12 months. This has allowed us to expand to new regions and respond effectively to emerging issues. In addition to supporting enabling environments for fisheries transparency in Africa, Latin America, and the Western Indian Ocean, we can now support countries in the Caribbean and Pacific Islands. We are also exploring new and complementary approaches, such as fisheries transparency in the context of climate adaptation and mitigation, as nations around the world grapple with potentially devastating climate impacts on their marine fisheries.
We also profoundly thank all our International Board members and Observers for their contribution and dedication throughout 2024, which have been invaluable to the success of the FiTI.
While this is just a brief snapshot of the many goals we accomplished throughout 2024 (see here for more information), we are particularly thankful for the last twelve months, given that we started the year facing an unprecedented challenge. As you may recall, 2023 ended with a devastating (literal) blow to our headquarters in the Seychelles, caused by a massive explosion in a nearby construction and quarrying company, severely damaging our office. Thankfully, none of our staff was injured, and during the first weeks of 2024, we quickly rebooted our operations. In June 2024, we moved back into our new (old) offices, for which we must thank the Government of Seychelles for their support throughout these difficult times.
As we take some days to relax and enjoy ourselves with family, friends, and loved ones during the holidays, we are already looking forward to exciting new opportunities and tackling new challenges in the coming year. We expect more countries joining the FiTI in 2025, and a continuous increase in the amount and quality of fisheries management information in the public domain. We will also look into new ways of enhancing information accessibility and stakeholder impact of fisheries transparency. Another major focus for 2025 will be updating the FiTI Standard to adapt to a changing information landscape and strengthen our global benchmark for transparency in marine fisheries management. Last but not least, next year marks our 10th anniversary, and we look forward to celebrating this milestone in mid of 2025 with all of you!
On behalf of the International Secretariat and the International Board, we wish you and all our partners, donors, supporters, and friends a joyous festive season and an excellent year 2025 from all of us at the Fisheries Transparency Initiative!
Valeria Merino, Chair of the FiTI International Board
Sven Biermann, FiTI Executive Director.