Liberia has assumed chairmanship on the Fisheries Committee for West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) with a pledge to heighten efforts in improving on the existing gains of the organization.
Speaking Over the weekend at the closing of the 15th Session Conference of the Ministers of the FCWC, the Director General of the National Fisheries & Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) Madam Emma Glassco said her greatest vision for the sub regional body is to foster and facilitate interregional trade.
She said Liberia has an emerging fisheries sector with opportunities which capture fisheries and Aquaculture developments, aiming to strengthen cooperation through shared technical experiences and harmonize policies on fishing license.
“I would like for us to establish regional protocols and partnership agreements with other organizations and hope to increase FCWC’s member states from six to ten countries.
She said FCWC was established in 2007 as a regional body with the membership of six countries to include the Republic of Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo and Liberia.
Madam Glassco indicated that fishing is associated with very high risk and is considered as one the world’s most dangerous jobs.
In his keynote address, President Joseph Nyumah Boakai emphasized Liberia’s commitment to regional cooperation and sustainable management of marine resources.
He described the Conference as a vital platform to strengthen collective efforts in addressing issues such as illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, climate change, marine pollution, and unsustainable fishing practices.
“The health of our marine ecosystems directly impacts the prosperity and stability of our nations,” said President Boakai, noting further, “Today, as we adopt the Monrovia Declaration, we reaffirm our shared commitment to regional cooperation and sustainable fisheries management.”
President Boakai highlighted Liberia’s recent achievements in fisheries governance, including the development of a comprehensive national fisheries policy and enactment of laws to combat Illegal Unregulated Fishing, ratification and domestication of key international agreements such as the United Nations Port State Measures Agreement and the Cape Town Agreement, and the establishment of a state-of-the-art Fisheries Monitoring Center, in partnership with the Liberia Maritime Authority, to safeguard Liberia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) against illegal activities.
By Lucky M. McGee
