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Data collected from the EAF-Nansen Programme research surveys contribute to generating and improving scientific knowledge about marine resources and ecosystems in Programme partner countries. For some countries, this is the only opportunity to access research data that can be used as a basis for decision making. Furthermore, given the regional scope of many surveys, the data constitute an important new information for regional monitoring of the state of the stocks in some regions. The Programme is for instance supporting the Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF) – a Regional Fishery Advisory Body and one of the main partners of the EAF-Nansen Programme - and its Assessment Working Groups, in their important role to ensure that scientific advice is provided in support of improved fisheries management in the region. 

More specifically, the Assessment Working Groups are responsible for:

• Updating catch and effort statistics by country and species; 
• Consolidating and updating biological information on catches, including length and age, if available;
• Discussing and updating research survey data, if available;
• Conducting a review of trends and quality of available data;
• Selecting the most reliable data sources and assessment methods;
• Assessing the current status of the different stocks in the sub-region using available information on catches and effort, biological data and research surveys;
• Presenting the different stock management options for the different stocks, highlighting the long- and short-term effects.
• Identifying data gaps that should be addressed in future working group meetings and providing recommendations for future research.

Surveys of small pelagic fish resources in the CECAF region have been conducted by the Programme’s research vessel – Dr Fridtjof Nansen – since the 1980s, covering different area in different sub-regions of CECAF. 

At the start of a new phase of the Programme in 2017, a small pelagic survey was carried out with the new Dr Fridtjof Nansen as part of a comprehensive mapping of the pelagic resources and ecosystems off the Atlantic coast of Africa, from Morocco to South Africa, extending it beyond the CECAF area into the Benguela Current Convention (BCC) area. In 2019, the initial plan was to conduct a transboundary survey of demersal resources, covering the same area, but this time, from the South up to the North. This objective was maintained for the BCC region (South Africa to Angola), however, for security reasons, the coastal part of the Gulf of Guinea, stretching from the Republic of Congo to Togo, could not be studied. For the rest of the Gulf of Guinea and moving North, upon request from the Programme partner countries, a combined pelagic and demersal survey was carried out, covering the waters of Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Guinea Bissau. The survey was supposed to continue in 2020 and include Northwest Africa, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it could not be completed together with other planned research surveys that had to be put on hold from March 20220 until the Dr Fridtjof Nansen could return to African waters only in October 2021. 

The survey data, including information on abundance and biological data, are used to complement available fishery-dependent data as a way of updating the stock assessments of both priority small pelagic species and demersal species in CECAF region. 

To facilitate the analysis of the survey data and to support the use of the data by the CECAF Assessment Working Groups, the EAF-Nansen Programme also supports CECAF with survey data preparatory meetings. The main objective of these meetings is to review available data from the surveys, build regional capacity for analyzing the data, and finally, prepare inputs for the Assessment Working Groups. 

More specific objectives of these meetings refer to:

• Reviewing how the R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen data have been integrated in earlier assessments; 
• Reviewing new data, extracting relevant data and preparing them in a format useful for the assessments of the main species (e.g. for small pelagics Sardinella, Bonga, Anchovy, Mackerel and Horse-mackerel) (Biomass, Length, B/L and catch rates, biological parameters);
• Preparing a synthesis of the information available, considering also earlier data;
• Preparing updated distribution maps, indicating the regional coverage of the stocks and considering seasonal differences;
• Compiling results in a form of a working paper or summary to be presented and discussed at the Working Groups. 

Furthermore, in March 2022, the EAF-Nansen Programme supported the FAO CECAF Working Group on the assessment of small pelagic fish off Northwest Africa for a specific meeting of their Sardinella sub-group. Sardinella is a very important species that contributes significantly to the economy (including employment opportunities) and food and nutrition security of both coastal and inland communities of the region. However, recent scientific advice by CECAF reported Sardinella stocks as overexploited. Therefore, emphasis was put on supporting additional meetings of this sub-group, to strengthen regional cooperation on Sardinella research, improve available biological data, complete data on landings and enhance stock assessments. The meeting of the Small Pelagic Working group, scheduled for early June 2022, will likely benefit from more solid data and information on Sardinella stocks. This effort also contributes to the EAF-Nansen Shared Sardinella initiative in Northwest Africa. FAO, through the EAF-Nansen Programme, is supporting the implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) integrating science, fisheries management and capacity development at national and regional level.