| Grantee | African Marine Mammal Conservation Organisation (AMMCO) ↗ |
| Grant Amount | 701400 |
| Duration | Three Years |
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing is one of the most serious threats to the sustainable exploitation of the sea representing a major hazard to the marine environment. Cameroon is one of the African countries with the highest incidences of IUU fishing practices which happens to be the most significant threat causing depletion of fish stocks, destruction of marine biodiversity through overfishing hence leading to an important economical loss. The leading causes of IUU fishing in Cameroon fisheries include:
● The non-alignment of fishery legislation with international laws
● Insufficient collaboration between administrations involved in fisheries management
● A weak Monitoring Control and Surveillance (MCS) system
It is unfortunate that Cameroon has not been able to ensure proper control of fishing activities happening under its flag. This led to the issuance of a "yellow card" by the European Commission of the European Union in February 2021. In this regard, the Cameroon government demonstrated a strong willingness to remediate the European Commission’s warning and to improve the management of its fisheries. Therefore, this project strives to combat IUU fishing in Cameroon through supporting the Government’s efforts to enhance the fishery governance, legal framework, and control systems, and to contribute to the sustainable management of aquatic resources. More specifically, this project will 1) enable Cameroon to meet the global transparency requirements and higher international fisheries governance standards and revise the current fishery and aquaculture legislation; 2) reinforce the fishery monitoring and control system and elaborate a fishery management plan.
This project will last three year, starting in March 2022 and will be implemented by AMMCO, EJF and MINEPIA.
