During the opening of a webinar on the 10th anniversary of the Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries, Gaoussou Gueye, President of the African Confederation of Professional Artisanal Fisheries Organizations (CAOPA), emphasized the importance of these guidelines for the future of African fishing communities. He also discussed the successes and challenges encountered in their implementation.
Among the successes, Mr. Gueye cited the influence of the guidelines on the national and regional policies of many African countries, which have put in place action plans to support artisanal fishing. However, he also highlighted the persistent challenges, such as the lack of knowledge of the guidelines by fishermen and decision-makers, and the need to better articulate these guidelines with other international tools.
In his speech, Mr. Gueye also reaffirmed CAOPA’s commitment to working for the benefit of African artisanal fisheries actors and to continuing its collaboration with the FAO Regional Office for Africa for better implementation of the guidelines.
Download the speech Gaoussou webinar ten years DSSF