West African states have gained new support in the fight against illegal fishing. On 28 October 2026 in Dakar, the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (CSRP) and the NGO Global Fishing Watch signed an agreement to facilitate the sharing of data on vessel movements, with the aim of identifying boats that exploit marine resources without following the rules.
In regional waters, illegal fishing deprives countries of significant revenue and threatens the livelihoods of artisanal fishermen.
Some industrial vessels switch off their tracking systems, enter prohibited zones or transfer catches at sea to evade controls.
These practices reduce available fish stocks and weaken families that depend on fishing.
Under the partnership, surveillance services will be able to cross-check satellite imagery with vessel movement data.
Authorities will thus have better means to identify suspect boats, verify their authorisations and organise inspections at sea.
The agreement covers the seven member states of the CSRP. Regional cooperation matters because vessels can leave one country’s waters and continue operating in a neighbour’s.
Information sharing will make it easier to track them and limit their ability to escape controls by changing zones.
The stakes directly affect local economies. In Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Liberia, fishing supports many coastal communities.
When industrial vessels catch large quantities of fish without respecting the rules, local fishermen risk seeing their catches decline. States also lose revenue linked to licences and fishing activities.
The partnership will, however, need to produce concrete results. Alerts must lead to inspections, investigations and sanctions where offences are established. National services will also need trained officers and sufficient resources to intervene quickly.
With this agreement, the CSRP is strengthening coastal countries’ surveillance capacity against vessels illegally exploiting their waters.
The priority now is to better protect fisheries resources, defend artisanal fishermen’s incomes and enforce the rules across West African maritime spaces.
Assou GNABRY
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