West African nations are escalating efforts to tackle illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, a practice costing the region over $2 billion annually and threatening food security for millions, as regional experts convened in Abidjan on March 18, 2025, to draft a unified action plan.
The four-day technical meeting, organized by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), aims to harmonize fisheries laws, strengthen maritime surveillance, and mobilize resources against IUU fishing, which accounts for nearly 40% of the region’s total catch. The gathering follows a directive from ECOWAS heads of state, who in July 2024 called for urgent measures to curb the crisis.
ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah opened the session by underscoring the dual threat of IUU fishing. “These activities ravage marine biodiversity, drain economies, and fuel instability in coastal communities,” he said, noting ties between illegal fishing and transnational crimes like smuggling. Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Animal and Fisheries Resources, Sidi Tiémoko Touré, warned that unchecked IUU practices risk “collapsing a sector vital to 7 million livelihoods.”
West Africa’s waters, among the world’s richest in marine life, have become a hotspot for foreign trawlers flouting quotas and underreporting catches. A 2024 UN report linked the region’s declining fish stocks—down 50% since 2000—to lax enforcement and corruption.
Fifty experts from ECOWAS member states, regional bodies like the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), and international partners including the African Development Bank will refine strategies to:
Standardize penalties for IUU violations across borders.
Establish shared surveillance systems and real-time data platforms.
Pool financial resources for patrol vessels and satellite monitoring.
Boost collaboration with sub-regional fisheries commissions.
“Harmonizing laws is pointless without enforcement,” said Colonel Kouadio Aké José Nicole, representing Côte d’Ivoire’s maritime security agency. “We need joint naval operations and stricter port controls.”
A key challenge remains financing. Current anti-IUU efforts receive less than 15% of required funding, according to ECOWAS data. Delegates proposed leveraging partnerships with the EU and World Bank, alongside levies on legal fishing licenses.
The draft action plan, due by March 21, will also address “toxic dumping” by foreign vessels—a growing concern linked to offshore oil exploration. “This isn’t just about fish,” Touré stressed. “It’s about reclaiming sovereignty over our resources.”
If adopted, the framework will advance to ECOWAS leaders for ratification by late 2025, marking a critical step toward reversing one of the region’s most pervasive environmental and economic threats.
