Shem Oirere

South Africa is proposing a review of an existing policy on abalone fishing rights to ensure more small-scale fishing coastal communities – hitherto considered marginalized under existing fisheries regulations – have their share of access to the resource increased as one way of tackling the runaway poaching of the endemic abalone species Haliotis midae. 

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Minister Senzeni

The 55-nation African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) launched this month, nearly two months after an agreement creating it came into force. 

Countries in the region will benefit from free trade in seafood and fishery products and full compliance with the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

The AfCFTA Agreement, which was earlier signed in Kigali, Rwanda, on 21 March, 2018, promotes closer economic integration among

South Africa has temporarily suspended licensed exploratory fishing for octopus in the False Bay area, one of the locations earlier selected by the country's Department of Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries (DEFF) for data collection on the potential of commercial octopus fishing to create jobs and support the country’s economic development.

The suspension announced by Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy on 28

WorldFish, a not-for-profit research organization that promotes the harnessing of fisheries and aquaculture resources for reduction of food insecurity and poverty in developing countries, has unveiled a new innovation hub – ”Fish for Africa” – to enable continent to build on its fast-growing urbanization and emerging technology in a bid to improve livelihoods within communities in the region.

The Innovation Hub, which was

Three East Africa countries have separately announced new plans that would enable them to reap from the fisheries and aquaculture of Lake Victoria and the Indian Ocean, as they presented their 2019-2020 financial year budgets concurrently.

The plans by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda – all members of the East African Community, a six-member inter-governmental organization in the African Great Lakes region – include rehabilitation of

The expansion and improvement of the fishmeal and fish oil industry in West Africa has triggered huge appetite for the flat sardinella (Sardinella aurita and S. maderensis) and bonga (Ethmalosa fimbriata) – fish species that are considered critical in meeting the region’s food demands, but are also overexploited to the point of near-depletion.

“The current situation is one of over-exploited and depleted fish stocks and a

South Africa has joined 15 other countries, all members of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), in calling for implementation of a proposal for allocation of fishing rights for tuna and associated species to promote fairness, equitability, and transparency.

South Africa’s Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (DAFF) submitted three proposals regarding the IOTC area of competence for discussion during the IOTC’s 23rd

A report capturing the extent and worth of illegal fishing by foreign owned industrial vessels in Ghana’s coastline is set to be launched to the international on 17 June, at a time when various international organizations warn the West African country risks a collapse of its fishing industry.

The report, which is based on investigations by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) in partnership with Ghanaian non-governmental organization

Representatives of government, business, and civil society are converging on Berlin on 13 June to discuss investment opportunities and challenges in development of Africa’s Blue Economy at a forum organized by the German-African Business Association (GABA) in partnership with the World Ocean Council (WOC).

Participants at the German-African Business Day Conference, who will be drawn from Africa, Germany and Europe, are set to examine