The Chief Minister,
Hon. Shamsi Vuai Nahodha,
Hon. Minister of Fisheries,
Senior Officials,
Distinguished Representatives of the Food, Agricultural
Organization of the United Nations,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I feel honoured and privileged to address you this morning. Let me first of all welcome you all to this very important workshop where issues of policy Harmonization, for proper management of our fisheries resources will be discussed. We have been waiting for this regional workshop for a long time and it has not been so easy to organize. We thank the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for making it possible through their generous funding and technical support
I am also delighted to welcome the SADC secretariat representative who is among us today despite her busy schedule. I am sure that her presence would be of great help to this meeting especially in clarifying issues related to SADC in general and the current restructuring process in particular.
Mr Chairperson, allow me to share briefly with you the following points, which I think are crucial to the task that is ahead of us today and for the rest of this week. These are progress recently been made at the SCU level.
Of most noticeable of our progress, is the completion of the development of the Protocol on Fisheries, which took about two years of hard and participatory work at the regional level, for both inland and marine fisheries sector. This important policy and legal instrument aims at promoting the responsible use of living aquatic resources in the SADC Region. You are certainly aware that the SADC Treaty mandates all Member State to strive to move towards a greater economic integration. Part of this integration is done in the form of developing sectoral protocols. Several Protocols have already been developed and are currently been implemented, for example, the SADC Protocol on Trade. But I am aware that our friends from INFOPÊCHE will address this point later today.
The Ministers in charge of the Marine Fisheries and Resources in Maputo have approved/accepted the Protocol on Fisheries on 18th May 2001. The document was later scrutinised and cleared by both the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources and Legal Sector. It is our hope that the process will be completed with the signing of the document by Heads of States and Governments, during their Summit, which will be held in Malawi in August this year. Once adopted, the Protocol will be the core of the programme of action of the Marine Fisheries Sector.
The implementation of this document has already begun through some of our current projects. I have brought with me some copies of the final version of the Protocol on Fisheries that I strongly recommend all of you to read because it forms the base for our discussion during his workshop. The document also provides a real framework and strong base for the future regional co-operation in the fisheries sector. It is evident that the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries of FAO has largely inspired this regional achievement.
That is why I am so pleased to be here today and enthusiastic about working with you on this Project on Harmonization of marine fisheries policy. I am convinced that project could be the cornerstone for the implementation of the Protocol on Fisheries and I therefore expect a lot from this workshop.
I would like to briefly remind you of the other projects that are currently underway which contribute to the achievements of the Sector: in the field of resources monitoring and assessment, we have two major projects that are covering the Benguela Ecosystem on the West Coast of our region. These are BENEFIT and the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME), funded by GEF, GTZ and NORAD. Proposals for new projects for the east coast resources assessment are currently being negotiated for. I have no doubt in my mind that the outcome will be fruitful.
Two other projects that started this year and are making good progress include:
The scope of these projects goes from data exchange formats to complex law enforcement aspects through a large array of technical and institutional assistance. These projects are already striving for harmonization in range of issues.
I strongly recommend that at both national and regional levels these projects be clearly incorporated in the strategy that will emerge from this workshop, because we need to maximize the synergies and make the best use of the expertise and means provided by all sources for the benefit of the region.
To this end, allow me to underline here that the total amount of the current SADC marine fisheries projects for the next five years exceeds 60 million US$.
Mr Chairperson, Distinguished Delegates, the main purpose of our activities is to manage our resources in a sustainable manner. I know that some members states have done progressively well regarding fisheries management. But it would be misleading to say that compliance in SADC fisheries is good. We simply do not have the necessary infrastructure, personnel or funding to do what is needed at a national level. We are bound to cooperate at a regional level if we want to achieve consistent results in management of our fisheries resources in the coming year.
I would therefore like to urge you that the strategy to be elaborated during this workshop must be practical and capable of being implemented by our countries in a relative short period of time. Prioritizing actions in relation to the extent of the threats is a rule of common sense that fully applies to the management of our complex sector.
I support that most of you are aware new challenge faced by the SADC institutions: the restructuring process. The idea, in short, is to strengthen the SADC Secretariat based in Gaborone and create there a Strategic Planning, Gender Development and Policy Harmonization Department composed of four Directorates. One of these is the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Directorate that will include all related sectors currently covered by the Sector Co-ordinating Units. Therefore, the phasing out of the Sector Co-ordinating Units is programmed to be effected within the next two years.
I will not dwell on with all the concerns raised by this restructuring process. But I can report here that Ministers in charge of the Fisheries Sector have expressed the will to continue to meet on annual basis and keep involved in the coordination of the regional activities. Furthermore, they have launched a special working group, composed of representatives of our coastal countries and have tasked them to monitor the process and brief the SADC on restructuring process. Our current interest is first to ensure Fisheries will be clearly identified as a specific sector within the new structures and that a right number of specialized and experienced technical persons will be recruited to carry out the current features.
In conclusion, Mr Chairperson, I would once again like to express my heartfelt appreciation to the government and the people of Zanzibar for allowing us to hold this important workshop here and making us feel at home. I will fail in my duty as the Sector Coordinator if I do not give a special word of thanks to the FAO. Once again, I thank them for making this project a reality. I am sure that with the Protocol of Fisheries complete only waiting to be signed and ratified, we have made a start to reform the content of our policies and strategies, we count on the present project to help us to turn it soon into effective decisions.
Thank you.
