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Twenty five monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) officials and fisheries experts from 19 countries from Africa, Asia and Europe attended the 2 week-long FAO Advanced MCS Course, held in Zaragoza, Spain, from 13 to 24 May 2024.

This FAO training course, organized in collaboration with the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (CIHEAM) and with the support of the Spanish Secretariat for Fisheries, was delivered by FAO officials and by invited national and international experts. The course was designed to provide participants, notably from developing countries, with a solid knowledge of MCS systems, processes and tools, to provide them with added skills in their day-to-day work in combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Classes were mainly held at the CIHEAM premises while the course also included a practical visit to the port of La Rapita, in Tarragona, where the participants had the opportunity to observe inspection activities undertaken by national inspectors.

Participants also had the opportunity to visit the Spanish Fisheries Monitoring Centre. They could also learn about Spanish MCS systems in place and the country’s implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) in one session held at the Spanish Secretariat for Fisheries in Madrid.

This FAO course on Advanced MCS is one of the flagship courses of the FAO Global Training Programme developed under the Global Capacity Development Programme to support the implementation of the PSMA and complementary instruments and tools. More information can be found in Prospectus – FAO fisheries training programme in support of the implementation of international instruments.