   | EAF-Nansen In Focus 
ERA workshops held in Seychelles, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.
The second FAO International Training Course on EAF held at Rhodes University, South Africa.
The third FAO International Training Course on EAF held at the Université Ibn Zohr in Agadir, Morocco
Expert Workshop on Ecosystem Indicators for EAF held in Rome An expert workshop on ecosystem indicators for EAF was held at the FAO in Rome from 29 to 31 August 2011. The objective of the workshop was to identify ecosystem indicators that can be efficiently derived from data collected through scientific surveys in support to implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF). Discussions were centred on the following review of key ecological issues that management need to address as part of the EAF, type of data that can be collected by research vessels to help address the above issues including survey data requirements to produce an appropriate and workable baseline and the use of research vessels to monitor ecosystem status (type of data, survey design, etc). The experts looked at options for monitoring the impacts of fishing on aquatic ecosystems as well as options for monitoring aquatic ecosystems, given an initial characterization of the system based on available knowledge. Africa LME Caucus launched On 16 May 2011 the idea of the Caucus of African Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) projects was formalized at a meeting that took place in Accra, Ghana. The purpose of the Caucus is to foster closer cooperation among African LME projects on issues of common concern, learning and sharing experiences, improving communication and coordination and developing ways to work in synergy. The LME projects are for the Canary, Guinea, Benguela and Agulhas & Somali Currents. The Coordinator of the EAF-Nansen project represented the project as well as the Canary Current LME project at the inaugural meeting. To read the first issue of the African LME Caucus newsletter, go to http://iwlearn.net/news/african-lme-news Ecosystems 2010 meeting: Global progress on ecosystem-based fisheries management. The meeting was held in Anchorage, Alaska from 8 to 11 November 2010. This meeting brought together international fishery scientists, managers and stakeholders to share insights into the current status and future scenario on ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM). This meeting builds on the 16th Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium, “Ecosystem Approaches for Fisheries Management”, held in 1998, as well as international symposia held in France, Iceland, and Norway in the last decade. Two of the speakers were Dr. Johann Augustyn, Chair of the Benguela Current Commission Ecosystem Advisory Committee and Dr. Rick Fletcher, Director (Fisheries Research), Western Australia Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratories, Australia. Johann and Rick are closely associated with the EAF-Nansen project; the former being a member of the project’s Regional Task Group for the Benguela Current Commission area and the latter a well-known instructor and facilitator for the project. Dr Kevern Cochrane of FAO, member of the Steering Committee and Dr Kwame Koranteng, EAF-Nansen Project Coordinator co-chaired the session on the “Progress on Regional Application”. In the Case Studies and Practical Solutions Session, Kwame made a presentation on FAO’s work in putting into practice the ecosystem approach to fisheries. The presentation was prepared by Kwame himself, Kevern Cochrane, Gabriella Bianchi and Merete Tandstad all from FAO, Rome. The 2010 Norad/FAO/IMR semi-annual meeting held in Oslo The 2010 Norad/FAO/IMR semi-annual meeting on the EAF-Nansen project took place in Oslo, Norway on 14 and 15 October. The meeting was preceded by a seminar on Food security, poverty reduction and future challenges in fisheries. The four presentations made were:
The agenda items for the semi-annual meeting included updates on the implementation of the EAF-Nansen project, in-depth analysis of the two options for the continuation of the project, and 2010 planned surveys and tentative cruise plan for 2011. CECAF-North area scientists complete survey data analysis and Nansis database training Eleven scientists from all 7 countries in the CCLME (Canary Current Large marine Ecosystem) area have undergone training in the use of the Nansis database and survey data analysis software, in Dakar, Senegal from 20 to 26 October 2010. The course included installation and use of Nansis, survey setup and biomass estimation from swept area and also from acoustic surveys. It also included lectures in survey methodology, limitations and post survey analyses of survey data for assessment purposes. This is the third in a series of courses on survey data analysis and Nansis, organised by the EAF-Nansen project. The other two were in Accra, Ghana (2008) and Port Louis, Mauritius (2009). SWIOFC Area scientists undergo fish stock assessment course.> From 27 September to 8 October 2010, 18 scientists mainly from the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC) area participated in a fish stock assessment course jointly organized by the EAF-Nansen project and the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Project (SWIOFP) in Mombasa, Kenya. Three of the participants were from West Africa. The two-week course preceded a SWIOFC ad hoc Working Group on demersal and pelagic resources. The course components were: The role of fish stock assessment in the fisheries management process; Modeling fish stocks; Estimation of model parameters: Fitting models to data; Critical aspects of practical fish stock assessment. The course was lead by Pedro Barros assisted by Tarub Bahri (both of FAO). Mr Dale Kolody of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) was invited to present an overview of the general characteristics and most problematic issues in large pelagic fisheries from a stock assessment perspective (e.g. widespread international fisheries with mixed species targeting, poorly quantified spatial stock structure, reliance on commercial CPUE as a relative abundance index, large-scale tagging programs, etc). Commenting on the course, Mr Rondolph Payet, the Regional Executive Secretary of SWIOFP said “I believe we have a good team to build on to take things forward; the vision is EAF management plan implemented in each of the countries within the next two years” Legislating for an ecosystem approach to fisheries – A review of trends and options in Africa A study conducted by the FAO Development Law Service for the EAF-Nansen project on “implementation” of EAF in national legislation has been concluded. The study was lead by Anniken Skonhoft, then a Legal Officer at FAO, with contributions from two consultants Charlotta Jull (Italy) and Akunga Momanyi (Kenya). The scope of the study was to review available international and regional legally binding and non-binding instruments relevant to the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF), and its implementation in Africa. The report of the study will soon be available on the EAF-Nansen project website and will also be published in French. Six new mollusc species and one genus described As part of an investigation into the benthic fauna of the Gulf of Guinea, six new species of the genus Turbonilla have been described. The authors worked on material collected during a cruise with R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen in July 2005. The species are T. krakstadi, T. anselmopenasi, T. iseborae, T. korantengi, and T. alvheimi and K. rolani under the new genus Kongsrudia. In a paper published by F. Lygre and C. Schander in the Zootaxa (http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa), a journal for zoological taxonomists (Zootaxa 2657:1 – 17) the authors give the Etymology of the genus and species as follows: The genus Kongsrudia is named in honour of Jon Anders Kongsrud, Bergen Museum, who has been instrumental in gathering and developing material during the GCLME project and putting it to scientific use. Turbonilla krakstadi: The species is named in honour of Jens Otto Krakstad, who has lead many of the expeditions where the material included in this study was collected, and was fundamental in the initiative of getting a benthic part of the surveys. Turbonilla iseborae: The species is named after the late Catherine Ekaete Isebor from the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine research, Lagos Nigeria, who was local cruise leader and GCLME-representative during the cruises with R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen from 2004–2006 where some of the material used here was collected. Catherine was an outstanding scientist and a prospective leader from the region who died unexpectedly only months from finalizing her PhD in 2006. Turbonilla korantengi: The species is named in honour of Dr. Kwame Koranteng who is the present EAF-Nansen Project Coordinator of FAO–FIMF. In the past he was chairman of the GOOS-AFRICA coordinating committee and director of the Marine Fisheries Research Division (MFRD) at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Ghana. He has always worked for the good of marine biology and fisheries research in the area. Turbonilla alvheimi: The species is named in honour of Oddgeir Alvheim who is a senior technician of the Nansen program. Oddgeir has had a long career as a senior research technician at the Institute of Marine Research. He has participated in cruises connected with the Nansen program since the beginning of the 1980s and was the cruise leader on one of the GCLME surveys that provided material for this study. He has devoted his life to field work off the coast of Africa and is among those people with the best general knowledge of marine fauna in Africa. New species found during R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen cruises. During a bottom trawl survey conducted by the R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen off the coast of Mozambique, a new species of fish was encountered. Thanks to the typical ‘’goatee beard’’ present in the goatfish family, scientists immediately realized the rarity of this specimen, which in fact turned out to be a new species. In honour of the Norwegian explorer Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, the fish was named Parupeneus nansen. In a recent publication, taxonomist John E. Randall and Elaine Heemstra identified and depicted the Parupeneus nansen, as well as two other species that were discovered on expeditions with the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen.
In a similar survey in deep waters on the slope off Ghana several alien species, including the two below, were recorded.
This finding again emphasizes the rich biodiversity of this area. It is not uncommon to find unknown species and this must be a further stimulus to strengthen research. In the framework of the EAF-Nansen Project, whose objective is the initiation of an ecosystem approach to coastal fisheries in Senegal, a public awareness campaign was undertaken by the Fisheries Department. The mission was made in the regions of Thies, Fatick, Louga and Saint Luis from Tuesday 6 to Friday 9 July 2010. Côte d’Ivoire establishes EAF Project Management Unit On 23 December 2008, the Minister of Animal Production and Fish Resources (MIPARH) signed the EAF-Nansen project document on behalf of the Ivorian government. This opened the way for the implementation of the EAF-Nansen Project in the country and was followed by the establishment of EAF National Task Group (NTG), the preparation of a project concept note, the development of a National Action Plan on EAF and the creation of a Project Management Unit. A budget line was opened at the public treasury for the functioning of the unit (provision of offices, equipment, etc...) from 2010. A Work Plan to define activities for 2010–2014 was prepared. The planned activities include the completion of a study of the stakeholders in the beach seine fishery, the development of a management plan for the beach seine fishery. An important activity in the program of work is the formation and operation of the EAF National Task Group which is to include representatives of the oceanographic research centre, government functionaries, fishermen and fishing vessel owners. Another issue considered in the plan of work is the dissemination of information through the preparation of a documentary film on the ecosystem approach to fisheries. R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen in Pakistan The EAF-Nansen project’s research vessel, Dr Fridtjof Nansen, steamed north from Port Luis in Mauritius on 27 September on a 13-day transfer voyage to undertake 42 days of survey activities in Pakistani waters in cooperation with the FAO “Support to fishery resources appraisal in Pakistan”. While this is the first time that the 18 year old vessel has left African waters, in a way it returns to familiar surroundings, as the first Dr. Fridtjof Nansen (1974–1993) surveyed the same waters back in 1975–76. The R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen will carry out demersal, pelagic and deep-sea fisheries resource surveys from 12 October to 21 November. More information on the Pakistan surveys can be found on the survey blog: http://www.imr.no/forskning/bistandsarbeid/surveys/pakistan/en Managing sea cucumber fisheries with an ecosystem approach. (FAO, June 2010)
Climate change and implications for fisheries and aquaculture (UN Food and Agriculture Organization, December 2009) This collection of three technical papers addresses: the physical and ecological consequences of climate change on marine and freshwater environments; impacts on fisheries and local communities with a focus on adaptation and mitigation measures; and impacts on aquaculture with a review of potential adaptation and mitigation measures. The studies highlight that fisheries and aquaculture make a minor, but still significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions throughout the sectors’ supply chain. The report notes that ecosystem approaches to aquaculture and fisheries, as well as precautionary management, can help improve the resilience of the sectors. It calls for the integration of fisheries and aquaculture into national climate change and food security policies. |
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