The navies of the coastal states of the Gulf of Guinea and the French navy will focus their cooperation on the fight against illegal fishing and drug trafficking, officers said on Friday after a meeting in Brest.
“
For some time, the focus has been on
piracy
.
It is time that we focus our action on the fight against illegal fishing
,” said Rear Admiral Istifanus Albara, Nigerian Navy, Director of the West Africa Regional Maritime Security Center.
A delegation of officers from Gulf States met in Brest this week, as part of the so-called “
Yaoundé architecture
” maritime cooperation.
"
Tackling illegal fishing is one of our top priorities right now because of the benefits it can have for our economies and for food security
," added Istifanus Albara, also citing the fight against drug trafficking.
Treat all difficulties equally
Only three ships were hacked in 2022 (compared to 26 in 2019) in the waters of the Gulf of Guinea, until recently considered among the most dangerous in the world for piracy.
“
We are not going to focus on the fight against piracy, which is very fashionable with us
,” confirmed Wing Vice-Admiral Olivier Lebas, commander of the Atlantic maritime zone for the French navy.
"
Our cooperation is committed to dealing equally with all the difficulties of maritime security in the area, seen from the African prism and not only from Europe
", he added, citing as priorities the fight against illegal fishing, against local pollution and drug trafficking.
"
It is estimated that between 40 and 50% of fishing catches are made in an illegal framework
", or "
one to two billion dollars of lost resources
" per year, added Mr. Lebas.
Read alsoThe new prey of sea pirates
“
Local fishermen are finding it increasingly difficult to make a living from their fishing.
They take more and more risks, are forced to go further because the resource is drying up, with boats that are not necessarily suitable
” which leads to “
deaths at sea
”, he described.
"
Piracy is the most visible, but the most hidden crimes are the most harmful, such as illegal fishing, drug trafficking,"
confirmed Angolan Rear Admiral Narciso Fastudo Junior, Executive Director of the Interregional Center for coordination.
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