Trygg Mat Tracking

Earlier this week, TMT Executive Director Gareth Johnstone PhD, met with the Honorable Sidi Tiémoko TOURE, Minister of Fisheries and Livestock of Côte d'Ivoire, alongside the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC/CPCO) Secretary General Dr. Gaston Djhinto and senior government officials. Discussions centered on establishing a Regional Vessel Register, the recent joint patrol with the French Navy, and enhancing collaboration between National and Regional MCS Centers. The Minister, a strong advocate for the closed fishing season, seeks to extend this crucial management measure across the entire FCWC region to combat IUU fishing. This effort will play a pivotal role in protecting the Gulf of Guinea’s fisheries while promoting sustainable development for the benefit of coastal communities. With the political will and leadership of FCWC member states—Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and Liberia— significant progress can be made toward more sustainable and secure fisheries across the region. #FisheriesManagement #SustainableOceans #IUUFishing #WestAfrica #MCS #GulfOfGuinea #OceanConservation #PoliticalLeadership #BlueEconomy #RegionalCollaboration

This week Trygg Mat Tracking Executive Director, Gareth Johnstone PhD will be with the Secretary General of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC/CPCO), Dr. Gaston Djhinto to engage countries in the development of a Regional Vessel Register and meeting with ministers and senior government officials in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana,Togo and Benin. Why is a Regional Vessel Register important for the FCWC? Its a key step to improve governance of the region's fisheries sector; it provides a system for information exchange to strengthen fisheries management and economic growth; it acts as a tool for compliance to safeguard sustainable fisheries; and operates as a mechanism for self financing to secure independent ownership and operations of the Regional MCS Center. TMT is working with the FCWC member States with our partners Stop Illegal Fishing (SIF) to ensure the FCWC and other regional fishery management bodies have the capacity to protect their fishery resources through initiatives such as the Regional Vessel Register and ensure Africa has a vibrant and just Blue Economy now and into the future.

Kenya plays a critical role in deterring illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in East Africa. Strengthening the monitoring, control and surveillance capacities of government enforcement agencies is key to supporting fisheries management in the country. Building on their knowledge and experience, participants from Kenya Fisheries Service, Kenya Coast Guard Service and Kenya Fishing Industries Corporation took part in a 5-day workshop earlier this month led by experts from Trygg Mat Tracking and Global Fishing Watch as part of the Joint Analytical Cell. Organised by the Go Blue Kenya Project, the workshop included hands-on training of key data sources, tools and analytical methods for the development of intelligence to inform patrol planning and support the live phase of at-sea patrols. Technical sessions were provided on vessel tracking and remote sensing data, including an introduction to Skylight, Global Fishing Watch’s map, Vessel Viewer and the Usalama Baharini Coastal App. This was a great opportunity to work alongside Kenyan authorities, support their efforts and foster collaborative approach to sustainable fisheries. Thank you to everyone involved! Photo: Dorothy Mudanya, Go Blue

How do you manage what you can’t see? Global Fishing Watch and Trygg Mat Tracking recently hosted a webinar showcasing our Vessel Viewer tool. This free, publicly accessible platform allows port inspectors and managers to search vessel identities, track their movements, and analyze potential fishing or transshipment activities using AIS data, public registries and machine learning algorithms. Vessel Viewer is proving invaluable for port state measures implementation, pre-flagging risk assessments, and patrol planning. Fisheries officers from Ghana and Kenya shared how they're using the tool to verify vessel information, detect potential IUU fishing, and make informed decisions about port entry and inspections. If you're involved in fisheries management, maritime law enforcement, or ocean conservation, I highly recommend checking out Vessel Viewer. It's a powerful resource for increasing transparency and supporting sustainable fishing practices worldwide. To learn more and access the tool, visit the Global Fishing Watch website. The full webinar recording is also available for those wanting a deeper dive into its capabilities - https://lnkd.in/eMs7Kbqq

Regional cooperation, partnership, and transparency are key to protecting Africa's fisheries and blue economy from illegal fishing and related crimes. This week, Trygg Mat Tracking's Executive Director, Gareth Johnstone, met with Dr. Khallahi Brahim, Permanent Secretary of the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC), to sign a Memorandum of Understanding and explore opportunities to strengthen SRFC’s Monitoring, Control, Surveillance, and Enforcement capabilities. This builds on TMT’s ongoing work in the region since 2017, where we’ve provided fisheries intelligence, data analysis, and training to member states, thanks to the support of Oceans 5 and the Oak Foundation. The SRFC, one of West Africa's most significant inter-governmental agencies, represents member states including Cabo Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, overseeing over 1.6 million km² of Exclusive Economic Zones. It is mandated to help these nations implement policies to safeguard fisheries resources and promote collaboration and sustainable management. TMT’s collaboration with the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC/CPCO), backed by financial support from Norway and alongside this new partnership with the SRFC, is part of a pan-African effort to enhance inter-regional cooperation. Together, we aim to improve the sharing of fisheries intelligence and data, and strengthen the management and oversight of industrial fishing fleets operating within and beyond these critical regions. #BlueEconomy #SustainableFisheries #IllegalFishing #RegionalCooperation #AfricaBlueEconomy #WestAfrica

Regional cooperation, partnership, and transparency are key to protecting Africa's fisheries and blue economy from illegal fishing and related crimes. This week, Trygg Mat Tracking's Executive Director, Gareth Johnstone, met with Dr. Khallahi Brahim, Permanent Secretary of the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC), to sign a Memorandum of Understanding and explore opportunities to strengthen SRFC’s Monitoring, Control, Surveillance, and Enforcement capabilities. This builds on TMT’s ongoing work in the region since 2017, where we’ve provided fisheries intelligence, data analysis, and training to member states, thanks to the support of Oceans 5 and the Oak Foundation. The SRFC, one of West Africa's most significant inter-governmental agencies, represents member states including Cabo Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, overseeing over 1.6 million km² of Exclusive Economic Zones. It is mandated to help these nations implement policies to safeguard fisheries resources and promote collaboration and sustainable management. TMT’s collaboration with the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC/CPCO), backed by financial support from Norway and alongside this new partnership with the SRFC, is part of a pan-African effort to enhance inter-regional cooperation. Together, we aim to improve the sharing of fisheries intelligence and data, and strengthen the management and oversight of industrial fishing fleets operating within and beyond these critical regions. #BlueEconomy #SustainableFisheries #IllegalFishing #RegionalCooperation #AfricaBlueEconomy #WestAfrica

#NowReading: TMT Executive Director Gareth Johnstone PhD spoke to Ned Daly of the Seafood2030 about the need to align technology develeopment, policy action, fisheries intelligence and enforcement operations to successfully stop illegal fishing and associated crimes and improve the livelihoods of ocean-based communities. #ocean2030 #sustainablefisheries #blueeconomy

Tackling illegal fisheries and related crimes is critical to the development of a sustainable and inclusive blue economy in Nigeria and the wider #Africa region. This week, TMT Executive Director Gareth Johnstone PhD met with the Honorable Adegboyega Oyetolal, Nigeria's Federal Minister of Marine and Blue Economy and Dr. Gaston Djhinto, Secretary General of the Regional Fishery Committee of West Africa and Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) to discuss shared opportunities and ways in which Nigeria can strengthen its role and leadership in the FCWC. These include Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data sharing with the Regional Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Center (RMCSC) in Ghana, support for management measures such as annual closed fishing season across the region, a regional record of fishing vessels, and capacity building in new and innovative analytical technologies and fisheries intelligence. TMT continues to support the FCWC with fisheries intelligence data, analysis, and training through a Norad - Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation funded project, which established the West Africa Task Force more than a decade ago. Our close collaboration with the six coastal states - Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia participating in the FCWC supports these countries’ efforts to monitor and manage the industrial fishing fleet operating in the region's almost 1 million km2 Exclusive Economic Zone. #illegalfishing #aquaticfoodsystems #blueeconomy

💻 Have you registered for our upcoming webinar with TMT? 📅 Join us this Friday, July 5 for an insightful session aimed at equipping fisheries managers with vessel information to help eliminate #IUUFishing. 🌐 Secure your spot here: bit.ly/3VYVwwW

We are delighted to have Dr. Gareth Johnstone PhD taking the helm as our new TMT Executive Director as of today. An accomplished scientist and influential leader, Dr. Johnstone brings a wealth of fisheries sector expertise and experience to TMT. His exceptional leadership skills, strategic insights, proven track record of driving organisation and sector growth and innovation, and broad exposure to transdisciplinary sustainable development issues made him the ideal choice to lead TMT towards the next chapter of success. His strong commitment to trust, transparency, collaboration and impact aligns perfectly with the TMT core values, making him an excellent cultural fit for our organisation. Dr. Johnstone was the Director General at CGIAR/WorldFish, where he successfully shaped a new 2030 vision and influential global agenda on aquatic food systems. He served as an observer in the UN FAO Committee of Fisheries, as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Steering Committee on 2030 Sustainable Aquaculture, and as a scientific adviser and contributor to the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy. He serves as the Vice-Chair of the OCEAN Expert Committee for the UK Government’s Blue Planet Fund. Read more about Gareth’s background and plans for TMT here: https://lnkd.in/ddExKFDy Welcome to the team Gareth!