OACPS calls on Member States to enhance fisheries transparency through the FiTI
The 8th Conference of Ministers Responsible for Oceans, Inland Waters, and Fisheries from the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) convened on 11 September 2024 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and concluded with an outcome Declaration calling upon its members States to, inter alia, “enhance the transparency of national fisheries management information, drawing from the lessons learned and successful experiences of other OACPS members states through voluntary initiatives, such as the internationally recognized framework of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI).”
The OACPS is an intergovernmental organisation comprised of 79 member States from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. Out of its total membership, 62 OACPS member States are coastal or island states, nine of which have already publicly committed to implement the FiTI.
The Ministerial meeting was preceded by a well-attended, 2-day Senior Officials Meeting – held on 9 and 10 October 2024 – drawing high-level delegations from member States, Regional Organisations, Civil Society Organizations and community-based Fisheries Organisations of the OACPS, as well as key partners and international agencies.
Under the conference theme of “Accelerating action for sustainable and resilient oceans, fisheries and aquaculture in OACPS countries and regions”, participants engaged in constructive exchanges of views and considerations on policy actions. These policy actions related to selected thematic issues, such as small-scale aquatic food systems or improving fisheries governance.
As part of the Senior Official Meeting, the FiTI International Secretariat was asked to provide an update on the implementation experiences and lessons-learned from OACPS member States regarding the improvement of sustainable fisheries governance through transparency and stakeholder collaboration. This update was complemented by an official policy brief [ACP/84/128/24], which was prepared by the Secretariat of the OACPS, in cooperation with the FiTI. As part of its brief panel presentation during the Senior Official Meeting, the FiTI emphasised that enhancing transparency in marine fisheries management is most effective, cost-efficient and widely-accepted if it is based on several core aspects, most notably:
- A commonly accepted transparency framework, following clearly defined requirements of what information should be published online by national authorities and holding all committed countries to the same global standard;
- Stakeholder participation, involving actors from governments, industrial and small-scale fisheries, as well as civil society to ensure that the published information is perceived as trustworthy and understandable;
- Progressive improvement, recognising that increasing transparency in fisheries management should be based on a gradual approach, wherein public authorities disclose the information they have and where important gaps are identified, and improvements are made over time.
The resulting policy recommendations on strengthening transparency in fisheries management were unanimously highlighted in the approved Senior Officials Meeting report, which served as the basis for the adopted outcome Declaration of the Ministerial Meeting.
According to Sven Biermann, Executive Director of the FiTI, ‘It is truly encouraging to see a growing momentum within the ACP region for fisheries transparency as a prerequisite for inclusive governance. The previous (7th) Ministerial Meeting held in Ghana in 2022 already issued a strong call for enhancing transparency in fisheries management as a crucial part of strengthening fisheries governance. Since then, and in only two years, the number of OACPS members that committed to the Fisheries Transparency Initiative has nearly doubled and this renewed commitment from OACPS member States sends a strong signal that making fisheries management more transparent and inclusive is a prerequisite to supporting national economies and the well-being of citizens and businesses that depend on a healthy marine environment.”
The conference declaration also reiterated the call on development partners to support local and national efforts to enhance the accessibility, credibility and usability of national fisheries management information within and between OACPS member States, and welcomed the assistance provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Ireland to the FiTI in supporting OACPS countries in implementing the FiTI.
