South Africa kicks off the SADC Atlantic States Project – supporting next steps for regional cooperation to protect our fisheries
Cape Town, South Africa-December 2-5 2025
On 02-04 December, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) of the Republic of South Africa hosted the first national training event under the MCSCC Project “Strengthening the SADC MCSCC: Focus on Atlantic Coastal States” (SADC Atlantic States). This collaboration with South Africa builds on achievements of the SADC Atlantic Project and on South Africa’s continued commitment to combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, in cooperation with the Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Coordination Centre (MCSCC) of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and countries that committed to operationalise it.
“IUU fishing has devastating impacts on our fisheries, both in inland and marine fisheries. It threatens food security and livelihoods. It is a priority for South Africa to protect our fisheries. This is why South Africa has been one of the first signatories of the Charter Establishing the MCSCC, an institution that helps our countries fight IUU fishing in an integrated way”, said Cheslyn Liebenberg, MCS Chief Director at DFFE.
Throughout the SADC Atlantic Project, which came to an end in September 2025, South Africa’s Fisheries Compliance Officers (FCOs) showed significant improvements in the conduct of their MCS activities. Officers have been implementing systematic risk assessments on fishing vessels coming into their port, based on a standardised methodology which they helped shape through their practical experience, together with the other two partner countries of the Project, Angola and Namibia.
Results of risk assessments have been used to inform decisions on whether to grant port access and port services to fishing vessels, and to support strategic planning of inspections – underpinning implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Lessons learnt have also contributed to key regional policy processes within the SADC, notably with the development of the Code for the Establishment of the Regional Register of Fishing Vessels (RRFV).
Like SADC Atlantic, the SADC Atlantic States Project is implemented in South Africa, Angola and Namibia, thanks to a grant from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) provided through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the European Union under the Blue Benguela Current Action initiative and implemented by Stop Illegal Fishing (SIF). The Project aims to consolidate SADC Atlantic’s achievements in terms of national capacity for risk assessment of fishing vessels and inspections, including through the elaboration of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). It will promote sharing of those best practices throughout the region through the MCSCC, therefore fostering alignment to a regionally harmonised approach, a key objective of the MCSCC.
This initial workshop in South Africa gathered 30 participants, including fisheries compliance officers (FCOs) from Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London, as well as representatives from the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) and the Border Management Authority (BMA) to discuss the next step towards regional harmonisation of MCS practices for risk assessment, inspection and port State measures through the MCSCC.
“In 2008, Ministers responsible for fisheries recognised that to combat IUU fishing efficiently as a region, procedures need to be harmonised. By developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for risk assessments and inspections, South Africa, Angola and Namibia will be capacitated to make recommendations on how those could be aligned in all countries that committed to operationalising the MCSCC Charter”, said Dr. Motseki Hlatshwayo, fisheries technical advisor at the SADC Secretariat.
The workshop was also used to revisit the international global framework relevant to fisheries, including the different agreements to which South Africa has adhered to, in particular the PSMA, which requires interagency cooperation for effective implementation.
Through its actions, the Project supports the operationalisation of the MCSCC and reinforces key regional and global commitments to protecting the region’s fisheries.
This initial training will be followed by in-presence and remote monitoring, with a second training foreseen in July 2025 in Cape Town. “MCS activities require a lot of resources, we know how important it is to use them efficiently and strategically. The SADC MCSCC is a strong tool that we, as a region, have set up to help us achieve this. Through this Project and together with Angola and Namibia, South Africa is determined to play a leading role in making our MCSCC fully operational”, said Fatima Savel, Acting Director for Compliance at DFFE.
