Gabon has renewed its partnership with global ocean conservation group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to support the country’s drive to eliminate illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in its portion of the Atlantic Ocean coastal waters.
For the next three years, the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd will support Gabon in carrying out joint at-sea patrols under Operation Albacore IV, the organization’s campaign to tackle IUU fishing, which is estimated to cost the West Africa region roughtly USD 1.3 billion (EUR 1.16 billion) in economic losses annually.
The operation will center around the country’s nine new national marine parks and 11 new aquatic reserves, and will involve the deployment of M/Y Bob Barker, a civilian offshore patrol ship owned and operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
The vessel, which will be fueled and manned by Sea Shepherd’s crew, could extend its operations to waters of the neighboring island state of São Tomé and Príncipe in a renewed bid to keep illegal fishing vessels at bay and to improve the sustainability of Gabon’s fisheries sector.
Currently, it is estimated that up to 95 percent of the thousands of artisanal fishing boats in Gabon’s coastal waters are operated by foreign fishers from other West African countries such as Nigeria, Benin, and Ghana.
Gabon, with the support of Sea Shepherd, will intensify monitoring of the 2019 tuna fishing season to ensure only licensed vessels are allowed in the country’s sovereign waters. The monitoring team will include Gabonese marines, inspectors with the Gabonese Ministry of Fisheries, and rangers with the National Agency of National Parks aboard the M/Y Bob Barker.
Nearly 50 percent of Gabon’s industrial fish production is landed outside the country, according to Sea Shephard, partially due to a law that allows foreign operators to access local fishing grounds on condition they incorporate Gabonese partners in a joint venture with a national shareholding of at least 33 percent. Companies from China and South Korea are the majority shareholders in many of these arrangements, according to the African Union.
“These foreign trawlers have previously seen Gabon’s marine parks as biodiversity piggy banks to be smashed and looted by their nets. However, three years and many arrests later, the poachers stay well-clear thanks to the leadership of Gabon,” said Peter Hammarstedt, captain of the M/Y Bob Barker. “Operation Albacore has successfully evolved from making arrests to deterring criminal activity, the latter allowing fish populations to recover while the marine parks are vigilantly defended, not just on paper but also in practice.”
Photo courtesy of Tony Fenn James/Sea Shepherd
