Organization of workshops in Brazzaville and Pointe Noire with the MAEP to improve fisheries management in the Congo

Since November 2020, COFREPECHE, in association with AGT-INROS LACKNER, has been providing technical assistance to the Project “Improvement of the conditions for the exercise of marine fisheries and the sustainability of its management in Congo”. The project, which runs for 42 months until May 2024, has the following specific objectives:

• Improve the management of the future industrial fishing port;
• Provide artisanal fishing concentrated on the Songolo site with the means for its integration into the national economy;
• Ensure in an effective and efficient manner the basic functions in terms of monitoring, control and surveillance of the national fleet;
• Monitor the development of fisheries through the collection and analysis of scientific data to monitor the state of the fisheries and ensure their sustainability.

In the framework of the last objective mentioned, a COFREPCHE Technical Expert for Scientific Advice was mobilized to provide scientific support to the officers responsible for scientific monitoring of the MAEP/DGPA in order to improve the control of fishing effort in Congo through the development of management measures for the different fisheries in the country. The mission took place in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire from September 2 to 15, 2023. During this time, several workshops were held, including one in Brazzaville from September 5 to 8 and a second in Pointe-Noire from September 12 to 15. The workshops covered many essential points of the project, including the presentation of the diagnosis of fisheries management in Congo realised in the context of previous missions, the discussion and validation of proposed management measures, and the formulation of various recommendations on the operationalization of these measures.. The workshops were a success and contributed to the progress of the project.