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Under the current assistance provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to the Gambia, a mission was carried out to assist the country in revising its fisheries legislation to incorporate key international obligations related to the effective implementation of the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) and complementary international instruments to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

From 14 to 18 October, FAO experts together with representatives of the Gambian Fisheries Department, the Ministry of Fisheries, Aquaculture Development and Assembly Matters, and the Ministry of Justice, went through the draft of the revised legislation, and agreed on changes to be implemented and legal provisions which are to be redrafted, and on a detailed work plan for the finalisation of the revised legislation. This will include a stakeholders’ consultation which is a legal requirement in the country and a necessary step for the revised legislation to be adopted.

This mission is the result of the capacity development “Port State Measures Support Project” (GCP/GLO/1047/GER) funded by Germany, which supports capacity development initiatives in developing States to assist them to be in a better position to implement international instruments to combat IUU fishing, including the provisions of the PSMA.