Feasibility study regarding governance improvements in West Africa to progress towards ecosystem-based fisheries management of small pelagic shared stocks Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau

Pew Charitable Trusts - Project Dates:
May 2024 - October 2024

Description of Project:
The NEA/EBFM team works on the implementation of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) in the internationally managed fisheries of the Northeast Atlantic (NEA) region. The team’s approach is to advance concrete ‘stepwise’ actions and tools toward EBFM that may be readily applied in the short-term for the large pelagic and forage fish stocks of the region.

One further development is to expand the current work’s geographical scope to other fisheries targeting forage fish stocks. Small pelagic species off the coast of Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa[1] are a candidate

[1] According to the FAO Working Group on the Assessment of Small Pelagic Fish off Northwest Africa, which role is to update stock assessments and provide advice for management for the main pelagic species of the region, these species are: sardine (Sardina pilchardus), sardinella (Sardinella aurita and Sardinella maderensis), horse mackerel (Trachurus trecae, Trachurus trachurus, Caranx rhonchus, Trachurus spp.), chub mackerel (Scomber colias), bonga (Ethmalosa fimbriata) and anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus). FAO-CECAF (2022), Small pelagic fish Working Group North 2022 – meeting Summary

Services Provided:

Poseidon, on behalf of Pew Charitable Trusts, identified fisheries management challenges for the small pelagic stocks in terms of scientific, technical, socio-economic and governance needs and gaps.