An FAO-organised workshop to harmonise fishing regulatory measures in Central Africa held in Douala yesterday. Experts in fisheries were yesterday February 17 meeting in Douala to analyse problems facing the sector in the Central African Sub-region. The review, expected to be forwarded to governments of the sub-region, will encourage more efficient measures to regulate shrimp fishing through a participatory approach. Participants who came from Gabon, Cameroon, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea sought ways to establish a common sub-regional approach to management of shrimp fisheries in Central Africa.

The workshop, which was organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) at the Littoral Regional Delegation of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries in Douala, aimed at stamping out the rising violation of fishing regulatory measures by foreign fishermen as it is common in waters of the Central African Sub-region.

Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries, EAF-Nansen Project Coordinator at the Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources Use and Conservation Division of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Dr. Kwame Koranteng, said the FAO is implementing the EAF-Nansen Project working with 32 African countries through National EAF Task Groups. Through its EAF, the FAO is building the capacity of stakeholders in Central Africa to ensure improved management of fishery resources. Dr. Baba Malloum Ousmann, Regional Director of Fishery and Aquaculture in the Littoral, emphasised on sensitisation on the uniform approach in a bid to confront the inherent problems with conflicting measures across countries of the sub-region. He pointed to the fact that the FAO is assisting the country to adopt the approach and build the capacities of shrimp fishermen, including international shrimp fishermen fishing in Cameroon waters.