Despite offences and penalties clearly integrated at the fisheries policy level, Guinean national legislation is insufficient, especially at the IUU fisheries level. The sanctions in place show low efficiency in reducing IUU fishing activities.

One of the significant challenges for Guinea remains the internalization of the relevant provisions of international law and global standards in sector transparency and the fight against IUU fishing, their sound understanding and the effective implementation of their content. Advocacy will be implemented to promote updating national fisheries management regulations and the country’s adherence to international standards and mechanisms in the area of transparency.

Ships in Guinea

In addition, Guinean internal regulatory mechanisms are still suffering from a lack of technical capacity and inefficient coordination and communication systems. Recent institutional and regulatory reforms aimed at making the fishing license issuance process more robust and transparent, particularly by making sure that vessels with IUU history or links are denied access to fisheries resources and that the public can scrutinize licensing decisions. This includes the setting up of an examination Committee responsible for the analysis of license applications (by way of Ministerial memorandum N°0271/MPAEM/CAB from 22 March 2016) and the establishment of the conditions resulting in the inadmissibility of license applications (by way of decree No. D/040/PRG/SGG form the 18 February 2016). In order for those mechanisms to be fully operational and practical, relevant administrations still need to be supported through capacity training (risk assessment/due diligence), analysis (the examination Committee being open to external expertise and contributions) and the establishment of transparent inter-agency processes for information sharing as part of license application due diligence processes and related decision making.

Finally, the lack of communication around new or updated fisheries legislations and their application, especially under an intense reforming process, is reducing the reforms’ chances of acceptance and stakeholders’ compliance. Raising awareness among fisheries politicians and stakeholders aims to ensure that they adhere to reforms and good practices and lead them to make good decisions. Public awareness through the media and other appropriate modes of communication aims to create a general opinion that supports good governance and transparency in the management of the sector.

Guinea has been negatively impacted by illegal fishing practices, mainly carried out by foreign-owned vessels operating in Guinea waters under various flags. Timely detection of IUU fishing is crucial to preventing illegal activities in the Guinean EEZ and Marine Protected Areas and applying law enforcement measures to obtain sufficient proof to bring perpetrators to justice. Among other issues, Guinea lacks effective VMS and has minimal monitoring or enforcement of distant water fleets[1].

This project will propose applying a combination of cost-effective surveillance technologies solutions to IUU fishing through training and capacity-building sessions. This will include components on AIS/VMS tracking and related technologies potential of UAVs and remote sensing technologies, altogether constituting a complementary set of technological solutions for monitoring, control and surveillance capacities reinforcement against illegal fishing activities.

The focus of most activities will be combating illegal fishing, still, given that the scope of the national framework, including the National Plan of Action to combat IUU fishing and international instruments, including the PSMA that will see their implementation supported by the project, also including Unreported and Unregulated fishing, it is expected that Guinea’s capacity to prevent and deter IUU fishing will be reinforced.

Fisheries authorities cannot detect and fight fisheries crimes if they act alone. They need information and support from other agencies to identify fisheries violations and enforce laws. Inter-agency cooperation is also considered the most efficient way to strengthen the rule of law, as it improves accountability while increasing transparency and reducing opportunities for corruption. Implementing the PSMA offers an excellent opportunity to build inter-agency cooperation, as it requires open communication channels between ports, fisheries and other authorities and transparent procedures for pre-port verifications and related decisions to be made.

The first component focuses on improving maritime transparency through Earth Observation using satellite remote sensing technologies. Visualizing, tracking, analyzing and sharing data about IUU fishing activities in the EEZ of Guinea, including Identifying incursions or loitering by commercial fishing vessels; highlighting transshipments of fish or other goods or re-fuelling illegal fishing vessels, implementing it through Global Fishing Watch and Skylight (Vulcan Inc) platforms is strongly considered. Historical high-resolution satellite images can be obtained through the UNOOSA digital library.

The second component uses remote sensing technologies and explores the potential of UAVs’ complementary use for coastal surveillance and monitoring port operations. By obtaining the documented proof of illicit activities, law enforcement will be strengthened by remote monitoring of fisheries-related processes in the port of Conakry and illegal fishing vessels, identified in component one.

The third component focuses on strengthening pre-ports-entry control, introducing electronic tablets and formation for the use a mobile app for analysis. A mobile application currently under development between TMT and Global Fishing Watch (GFW) will be introduced to assist inspectors in planning and targeting port inspections. The Port Control App will show historical information on any fishing or carrier vessel entering the port (including tracking data and known compliance history) and enable enforcement officers to request and receive further analytical support. This tool will support risk assessment processes related to port access decisions, reinforcing Guinea’s ability to implement a strong advance request for entry into the port (AREP) process as part of the PSMA. It will further contribute to sharing information on port decisions and related vessels with other relevant ports, coastal and flag States and relevant regional/international bodies.

It also has been highlighted that the lack of trained fish inspection officers is a crucial challenge to reducing Illegal activities in the Guinean fisheries sector. Having recently acquired a VMS (mandated by Decree D/2014/006/PRG/SGG) and with recruits joining, building the capacities of fisheries personnel will be critical for services such as the CNSP (Centre National de Surveillance et de Protection des Pêches) to be able to fulfil their mandate. To this end, various MDAPs (Maritime Domain Awareness Platforms) and systems will be the focus of training activities, combining existing and new tools. Pre-inspection analysis and inspection capacities will also be improved through dedicated training on vessel identity fraud and related illegalities, using photo analysis and document verification methods as part of the vessel arrival notification process. The introduction of risk assessment as a guiding principle for the identification of vessels of interest and the planning of controls will be a common thread across all training activities to ensure that scarce MCS resources are allocated cost-efficiently.

In parallel to those supports, public awareness will be ensured through traditional media (TV and radio), social networks (Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.), and the design and distribution of brochures, short films and other communication tools. This awareness will help pressure policymakers to put the appropriate reforms in place.

Given the central importance of transparency in an effective governance of the fisheries sector, this project aims to promote it through several levers of actions and bring the country governance closer to the ten transparency principles. This is done through a reinforcement of the policy enforcement through an increased inter and intra government agency cooperation. The project will help strengthen the data collection and information system leading to better transparency and offering powerful tools to decision makers and law enforcement officers in the long terms.

In order to promote transparency in fisheries management, it will be necessary to collect statistics and information on fisheries activities, documentation on local agreements and authorizations for access to the resources. The data collected should be presented in appropriate formats (database, web page, etc.) in order to make them available and accessible to the different stakeholders. To this end, those responsible for collecting, analyzing and publishing those information and data will be trained and equipped with appropriate information systems technologies.

In parallel, it will be necessary to set up and reinforce exchange frameworks to make the dissemination of information regular. To this end, Guinea will be supported to complete the FiTI accession process and to publish formal transparency reports.

Investigative environmental journalism contributes to the transparency of the fisheries sector by increasing its civil society control. Independent investigations of criminal cases by journalists call the attention of the society and authorities, provide incentives to law enforcement to react by opening a criminal case and stepping in on behalf of the state. Strengthening the independent media is an essential need in a democratic society.

In addition to foreign and locally flagged fishing fleets operating in Guinea, the country is also an important hub for fish caught elsewhere in the broader West African region, this brings challenges on the information gathering on fishing and seafood international and national operators in Guinea. The project will help Guinean authorities in having a better understanding of linkages between local companies, fishing operations in the region and fish import/export businesses.

Establishing the international ties of fishing and fish trade operations is considered key, not only to better understand how the sector functions and who it benefits to, but also to inform MCS efforts and contribute to risk assessments, thereby improving the fisheries authorities’ ability to conduct targeted controls.