PRESS RELEASE
On December 15, 2023, Madagascar released its inaugural FiTI report, a global initiative aimed at promoting transparency and participatory governance in the fisheries sector. This report, crafted by a multipartite group comprising representatives from the government, private sector, and civil society, assesses the availability and accessibility of information across six thematic areas as defined by the FiTI standard.
These areas encompass vital aspects of transparency in fisheries management, including laws, land arrangements, access agreements, and information concerning Madagascar’s industrial and small scale fisheries, encompassing details about vessels, licenses, and catches.
The FiTI report reflects Madagascar’s commitment to implementing FiTI, a voluntary initiative it joined in 2022. It discloses that a significant amount of information is now accessible to the public, including a comprehensive list of fisheries-related laws and regulations, a roster of industrial fishing vessels, total payments for industrial fishing activities, and basic information on small scale fisheries in Madagascar (such as boat numbers and payments). However, it also highlights that certain critical categories of information remain inaccessible to the public.
Specifically, this pertains to access agreements for foreign fishing with JAPAN TUNA and INTERATUN, as well as recorded annual catches from industrial fishing for all commercial species other than tunas and related species (e.g., shrimp and lobsters).
The national multipartite group further emphasizes that the state of fisheries transparency remains fragile and uncertain due to policies and practices observed over several years, suggesting that establishing sustainable long-term transparency will be challenging. Summarized and detailed versions of the new FiTI report are available on the website of Madagascar’s Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy.
CAOPA applauds the Malagasy government’s commitment and openness in making this data available. By freely providing this information to all, the government of Madagascar fosters better-informed public debates on fisheries management and enhances trust, both nationally and internationally, in public authorities and the fishing sector.
Regarding small scale fisheries, transparency is crucial to ensuring that decisions regarding fisheries management are based on the best available information about the artisanal sector itself. Often, public knowledge about small scale fisheries, including post-capture activities and the roles of youth and women, is unavailable and unreliable, contributing to neglect of issues and the marginalization of actors in this sector.
CAOPA urges the authorities of Madagascar to ensure that professionals in the small-scale fisheries sector grasp the content of this report in languages they understand and through appropriate formats.
This report demonstrates a serious commitment to implementing transparency in fisheries management, an ideal promoted internationally and by the African Union for many years. However, in many countries, public information about the fisheries sector remains inaccessible to the public, as is the case in several African countries where fishing plays a vital role in development, poverty reduction, and food and nutritional security.
CAOPA hopes that Seychelles, Mauritania, and now Madagascar will serve as inspirations for other African countries. We are encouraged by the fact that other African governments are engaging with FiTI to explore the possibility of officially joining as implementing countries. These include São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Morocco.
Communication CAOPA
Aliou DIALLO