The U.S Navy is using joint military exercises with nearly 30 nations to improve cooperation on tacking illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing in West Africa.
Obangame Express 2025 (OE25) brings together militaries from Europe, South America, and Africa for the Navy’s largest exercises focused specifically on tackling IUU fishing in the Gulf of Guinea. According to the Navy, the collaboration focused on improving regional enforcement, legal coordination, naval interoperability, and communication.
“We are seeing a steady increase in the focus given especially to the global threat of [IUU fishing], a threat that exists also in Africa's coastal waters and maritime domain,” Ambassador Robert Scott, deputy to the commander for civil-military engagements at U.S. Africa Command, said in a statement. “[IUU fishing] poses a significant threat to the conservation and management of shared fish stocks, undermining the sustainability of fisheries and posing significant risks to marine ecosystems.”
The Navy claims IUU fishing accounts for roughly half of the harvest in the region, with African countries losing USD 11 billion (EUR 9.9 billion) in revenue annually and roughly USD 2 billion (EUR 1.8 billion) of those losses coming from depleted stocks and underreported catches in the Gulf of Guinea. The U.S. military also argues that IUU fishing enables other criminal activities, such as drug smuggling, human trafficking, and illegal transshipment.
"Illegal fishing is robbing our partners of resources, security, and sovereignty,” Lieutenant Elizabeth Barker, Atlantic Africa desk officer and IUU team lead with U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, said in a statement. “IUU is no longer just a maritime issue; it’s a national security concern.”
A major challenge is the foreign industrial fleets, primarily from China, which often skirt environmental regulations, according to the Navy.
Obangame Express 2025 will include 21 scenarios focused on IUU fishing, legal finfish simulations, and cross-border interdiction drills over the course of two weeks.
“In response to these threats and strong interest from African partners, OE25 has incorporated counter IUU activities directly into the exercise, beginning with the role of Maritime Operation Centers in enhancing surveillance, coordination and information sharing among regional maritime forces,” Scott said.
The participating nations in Obangame Express 2025 are Angola, Benin, Belgium, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Italy, Liberia, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, Togo, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
