Mbour-Saly-, November 17, 2021:
The African Confederation of Professional Organizations of Artisanal Fisheries (CAOPA) celebrates the World Fisheries Day 2021, from 19 to 21 November 2021.
To this end, CAOPA wishes to take advantage of the commemoration of this Day to develop an action program for IYAFA. It aims, on the one hand, to highlight the role of professionals in the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries, and, on the other hand, to propose concrete actions in three priority areas, reflecting the commitments of CAOPA since its creation, and which are essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 14.b. adopted by the United Nations: “Guaranteeing access to fisheries resources and markets for small-scale fisheries”.
Under the theme “Let’s Stand-up for sustainable artisanal fisheries“, the celebration of the World Fisheries Day 2021 aims among others to:
“- Share experiences on examples of actions related to the implementation of the guidelines; Exchange on concrete initiatives to be carried out in the different countries regarding the implementation of the guidelines and the celebration of the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022); Determine the themes of a common action program and prioritize the activities to be carried out; Develop a global action plan for a common strategy“.
CAOPA’s commitment is reinforced by the proclamation by FAO on 22 November 2017, at its Seventy-second Session, of the year 2022 as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022).
IYAFA will be an opportunity to highlight to the general public and governments the importance of adopting specific public policies and programs to promote sustainable artisanal fisheries and aquaculture.
The celebration of the World Fisheries Day (WFD) will be preceded by a two-day workshop -on November 19 and 20, 2021-, in Mbour, Senegal.
This meeting will bring together more than forty people: CAOPA member organizations, technical and financial partners, civil society, fisheries administrations, research, sub-regional, regional and international organizations in charge of fisheries, etc.
This will be an opportunity to build on concrete information and awareness raising activities on the Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries carried out by our members’ organizations in order to define a strategy for IYAFA and concrete actions on our three priority areas, which are:
Promoting secure access to resources for African artisanal fisheries
Promoting the place of women in African artisanal fisheries
Putting African artisanal fisheries at the center of the blue economy
By the Communication Unit of CAOPA