Directives Pour Les Campagnes Acoustiques Dans La R Gion De L Afrique Du Nord Ouest

FRIDTJOF NANSEN.

The scientists from the Northwest African region expressed their commitment to conduct their own acoustic surveys. All of the local research vessels conducted acoustic surveys in 2004. The ability of running acoustic surveys in the sub-region has developed to a good level and focus in the future should be on the development of human capacity and to resolve the recurrent technical problems of trawl performance, noise discrimination and data storage. The timeframe of the continued surveys with R/V DR. FRIDTJOF NANSEN and the support through the Nansen Programme is unknown and high priority must therefore be given to the improvement of scientists skills in acoustic abundance estimation.

The report finds that all of the local research vessels conducted acoustic surveys in 2005 and major improvements have been made in standardisation of procedures and processing of data. Some problems still persist, such as problems with trawling using the pelagic trawl and problems related to noise levels, but these issues are now being addressed. Plans were made for a second parallel survey and intercalibration exercise to take place in October- December 2005. It was recommended that the countries in the Northwest African region, Senegal, the Gambia, Mauritania and Morocco should co-ordinate their survey effort to conduct two annual regional acoustic surveys, during the cold and warm seasons respectively.

The scientists from the Northwest African region expressed their commitment to conduct their own acoustic surveys. All of the local research vessels conducted acoustic surveys in 2004. The ability of running acoustic surveys in the sub-region has developed to a good level and focus in the future should be on the development of human capacity and to resolve the recurrent technical problems of trawl performance, noise discrimination and data storage. The timeframe of the continued surveys with R/V DR. FRIDTJOF NANSEN and the support through the Nansen Programme is unknown and high priority must therefore be given to the improvement of scientists skills in acoustic abundance estimation.

The fourth meeting of the FAO/CECAF Working Group on the Assessment of Small Pelagic Fish – Subgroup South was held in Elmina, Ghana from 12-20 September 2018. The overall objective of the Working Group is to contribute to the improved management of small pelagic resources in West Africa through the assessment of the state of the stocks and fisheries in order to ensure sustainable use of these resources for the benefit of coastal countries. The species assessed by the Working Group were: sardinella (Sardinella aurita and Sardinella maderensis), bonga (Ethmalosa fimbriata), anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) and horse mackerel (Trachurus trecae and Decapterus rhonchus), and other Carangidae, in the region between the northern border of Guinea-Bissau and the southern border of Angola. La quatrième réunion du Groupe de travail FAO/COPACE sur l’évaluation des petits pélagiques – Sous-groupe Sud, s’ets tenue à Elmina, Ghana, du 12 au 20 septembre 2018. L’objectif général du Groupe de travail est d’améliorer la gestion des ressources en petits pélagiques en Afrique de l’Ouest grâce à l’évaluation de l’état des stocks et des pêcheries de façon à assurer une utilisation durable de ces ressources au bénéfice des pays côtiers. Les espèces évaluées par le Groupe de travail sont les suivantes: les sardinelles (Sardinella aurita et t Sardinella maderensis), l’ethmalose (Ethmalosa fimbriata), l’anchois (Engraulis encrasicolus) et les chinchards (Trachurus trecae et Decapterus rhonchus) et autres carangidés, dans la région située entre la frontière nord de la Guinée-Bissau et la frontière sud de l’Angola.

In its thirtieth session the Commission reviewed the intersessional activities of its Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and its Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ). Based on the advice emanating from SAC and proposals by Members, the GFCM adopted respectively: three binding recommendations on fisheries management measures, including on fishing effort and on the protection of sensitive habitats; two recommendations on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, including on the establishment of a black list of vessels and on data confidentiality procedure. It also endorsed three recommendations from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), including on the establishment of a programme for transshipment by large-scale longliners. The GFCM reiterated its satisfaction with progress made in the implementation of the five regional projects executed by FAO in support of the Commission. The Commission ascertained its financial situation and agreed to use arrears to build a Working Capital Fund. In the Secretariat, it established a post of Statistician and a post of Programmer/System Analyst. Work progress related to the new headquarters of the Commission was reviewed. The Commission decided to postpone the adjustments to its Rules of Procedure to its next plenary. The Commission established a Compliance Committee. It formalized the Environment Aquaculture Mediterranean Network (EAM) and the Statistical Information System on Aquaculture (SIPAM) as subsidiary bodies of CAQ, and endorsed the guidelines prepared by the Joint GFCM/ICCAT Working Group on Sustainable Tuna Farming. The Commission agreed on its programme of work and adopted its autonomous budget for the year 2006. The GFCM elected its new Bureau