Posted on 26 May 2020

In a world where fishing resources are increasingly coveted and marine habitats face threats posed by climate change and human activities, both the European Union and third country coastal States involved in Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) must take their responsibilities to achieve sustainable fisheries. These include the sustainable management of marine resources (i.e. maintaining healthy fish populations and marine ecosystems), supporting the fisheries-dependent communities of third countries, and the protection of sensitive species such as seabirds from the impacts of fishing. It is imperative that these challenges be overcome. This can be achieved by adopting a concerted approach at regional level for the negotiation and implementation of these agreements in regions such as West Africa and the Indian Ocean, with due consideration for the fact that marine ecosystems know no borders.

In November 2019, BirdLife Europe & Central Asia, the Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements and WWF, together with African partners, gathered in Brussels for a series of discussions. The heart of discourses during this period focused on how to make SFPAs between the EU and coastal States in west and east Africa truly sustainable so that they contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Based on the outcomes of these discussions, BirdLife Europe, CFFA and WWF present the following recommendations on the future of SFPAs.