By Modou Kanteh
Information Officer
Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources &
National Assembly matters
The Gambia government through the Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters has recently participated in a preparatory meeting held in Tangier, Morocco.
The meeting was a prelude to the international meetings on the conservation and sustainability of living marine resources planned for the 2nd half of 2022, in particular the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties of CITES and the 68th meeting of the International Whaling Conference (IWC).
According to Omar SM Gibba, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters who represented the Gambia at the meeting outlined the main objective of the meeting – strengthen and consolidate the Voice of Africa to better take into account the interests of African States.“It had to identify and propose the necessary actions for a better participation of MS in international bodies dealing with the management of living marine Species,” PS Gibba disclosed.
P S Gibba who is also a Commissioner of International Whaling Commission (IWC) said at the end of the preparatory meeting, the participants made the following recommendations, which among are to promote the sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources by relying on the best available scientific advice from competent national, sub-regional, regional and international institutions and bodies, in decision-making for the conservation and rational management of living marine resources
More also, to ensure that the fishing sector is involve in all coordination and decision-making processes that establish national and international policies that have an impact on the management of commercially exploited living aquatic resources, strengthen communication, diplomatic lobbying and cooperation efforts to promote the legitimacy and benefits of science-based conservation and sustainable use . This is in order to address growing pressure from those opposing the principle of sustainable use, among others.
The Commissioners of the following Member States attended: Benin, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra-Leone, and Togo.