Department of Fisheries in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Wednesday commenced a three-day interagency review of the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) at a local hotel in Senegambia.

The synergy was held to cooperate and look at mechanisms to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing with a focus on flag state performance, and the effective implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA).

The Gambia acceded to the 2009 FAO Agreement on Port State Measures to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing on 29 July 2016 thus becoming a party.

The Gambia was designated a beneficiary in January 2022 of the capacity development 'Ports State Measures Support Project' funded by Germany.

The Gambia and the FAO signed the project agreement on 30 March 2022.

Dr Mustapha Ceesay, assistant country representative for FAO, said illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing poses serious threat to the health of the marine ecosystem and leads to the loss of social and economic opportunities as well as impacts on the livelihood of the legitimate fishers, particularly in coastal developing nations like The Gambia.

Dr Ceesay added that the IUU undermines sustainable fisheries by rendering futile international conservation and management measures that are adopted and implemented at national level.

He added that IUU is associated with criminal activities taking place within the fisheries sector of countries and beyond the transnational networks.

In response to the threats related to illegal fishing, Dr Ceesay said the international instruments and national mechanisms and processes have considerably revolved since the adoption in 2001 of the FAO international plan of action to prevent, deter and illuminate unreported and unregulated fishing.

Fanta Bojang Samateh-Manneh, deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries, said the legal review sought to develop a series of recommendations targeting shortcomings in the legal and policy frameworks, whereas the interagency work would focus on priority areas for the country including flag state responsibility and information exchange in the interagency context.

She added that the review would also identify the policy framework in place to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing and propose recommendations to review and update it based on best international practice.