Nairobi Convention Marine and Coastal News Round-up - 23 May 2022

Welcome, Nairobi Convention Member States, partners, and friends, to this issue of the Weekly News Round-up!

Do you have any events, research, or scientific publications on the Western Indian Ocean that you would like to be included in the round-up? Write to [email protected]!

Sea turtle success stories along African east coast - but thousands still dying

Researchers say that conservation of sea turtles along much of Africa’s east coast has made good progress in recent decades — but tens of thousands of turtles still die each year due to human activity. Experts reviewed evidence from 1965 to the present about sea turtles along the coast of Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa.

Seychelles and Mauritius have agreed to appoint a new multi-national company to survey its jointly managed Mascarene plateau area after the contract of the previous company was discontinued. The Joint Management Area was set up after a treaty was signed in 2012 through which the two island nations secured rights to additional seabed covering over 400,000 square kilometres in the Indian Ocean.

The Tanzanian government is collaborating with development partners to build the capacity if small-scale fishermen along the shores of Lake Tanganyika and other local areas with modern fishing equipment, to increase the value chain in the fishing sector. The government aims at boosting the country’s blue economy sector with the help of modern infrastructure.

A half-day workshop to mark the first International Day of Women in Maritime under the theme “Training-Visibility-Recognition: Supporting a barrier-free working environment” was held, yesterday, in Ebène. The workshop sought to support an accessible and conducive working environment for women in maritime that is enabling, supportive and inclusive.

The Future of Marine Fisheries in the African Blue Economy

The marine capture fisheries production of Africa currently stands at 7 million tonnes. It has increased in recent years thanks to the strong resurgence of West African small pelagic catches and a return to normality in the Indian Ocean following the end of Somalian piracy. The marine fish supply is increasing but the current positive growth is at a rate that cannot match the increasing population’s per capita consumption demands.

For almost two decades, maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean was associated with fighting pirates off the coast of Somalia. These initiatives now need to be reformed as piracy has declined and other maritime crimes have increased. Illegal fishing along with smuggling and trafficking of people and illicit items such as narcotics are all on the rise.

Biodiversity Day 2022 - 22 Actions You Can Take

Have you ever wondered what you can do for biodiversity? Find ideas for taking action, and also submit your own! From personal actions to how you can support of the #BiodiversityDay campaign, Biodiversity-related items and resources, and an Action Agenda which is an involuntary commitment platform for non-state actors to make commitments highlighted in support of the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

The objectives of the 22nd annual meeting will be to launch the new Regional Seas Strategic Directions 2022 – 2025 and kickstart its implementation. The 22nd Annual meeting of the Regional Seas Programme takes place after two years, following the global pandemic Covid 19. This meeting builds on the outcomes of the 21st annual meeting held from 3 – 5 October 2019 in Berlin, Germany. All 18 Regional Seas Conventions and Action plans (RSCAPs) and Representatives of the global MEAs, partners and UNEP staff will be participating.