AFD – IORA Training: Online course by FAO to raise awareness of the benefits of the PSMA amongst the IORA Member States which are not yet Party to the Agreement.

As part of the French Development Agency (AFD) funded technical assistance for the implementation of the IORA Action Plan on Fisheries, Aquaculture and the Marine Environment, the AFD provides support to the achievement of the following objective of the Blue Economy Work plan: “combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in IORA region”. In the context of this objective, the activity “Promote and provide support to the IORA Member States to sign up for the Port States Measures Agreement (PSMA)” is planned as a response to the IORA Blue Economy Work Plan.

In this context, the IORA Secretariat, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), will deliver a training course to the IORA Member States that will focus on assisting States, especially those that are not yet Party to the PSMA, to appreciate the benefits of the Agreement and understand the requirements of its implementation, including within the broader framework of international fisheries law. The FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSM) is the first binding international Agreement targeting IUU fishing. It lays down a minimum set of standard measures for Parties to apply when foreign vessels seek entry into their ports or while they are in their ports. The Agreement also includes specific requirements for developing countries and foresees the need to adopt cooperation mechanisms and provide technical assistance to these countries to implement effective PSM. However, as of date, only 15 countries among the 23 IORA Member States have ratified the Agreement[1].

The FAO Training Course will be delivered online and will commence on 25 April 2022 and end on 29 April 2022. It will have a duration of 22 hours which will be delivered over five days (0900-1500 CEST) and will cover the following modules;

• Overview of fisheries management;
• Introduction to Fisheries law;
• Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA),
• Overview of fisheries enforcement (Technical Aspects).

Participation: By Invitation only

Title: Online training course to raise awareness of the benefits of the PSMA amongst the IORA Member States which are not yet Party to the Agreement

Venue:  Online

Date:  Monday, 25 April – 29 April 2022, 09:00 – 1500 CEST.

Registration: Restricted to the IORA Member States

The training will be delivered and moderated by FAO (Fisheries Global and Regional Processes Team. 

Fisheries and Aquaculture Division (NFI))