Progress report for
Addressing the causes of aquatic wild meat for sustainable development
Achievement at a glance
Completed: The Aquatic Wild Meat Working group of the CMS Scientific Council is operating through the CMS Scientific Council Workspace, on which a dedicated discussion area for this issue has been prepared. OceanCare experts are part of this working group and contribute actively to it.\r\n<br>OceanCare has spent the last year and a half working alongside the other founding partners, the Abidjan Convention, the USAid funded West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC) Program and Wild Migration to develop this much-needed partnership from concept to reality.\r\n<br>Forty plus participants, including African and international experts from academia and non-governmental organisations, governments from West Africa and representatives from relevant international bodies came together to frame the AAWPs objectives, structure and function and discussed priorities for collaborate action to form the beginning of a regional action plan.\r\n<br>Meeting participants were united in their belief that this is an issue which is not only relevant to conservation efforts but is also intrinsically linked to food security, human livelihoods and poverty. Many people rely upon the utilisation of these species to provide for their families so the Partnership agreed that any proposed solutions must tackle the complex issues of alternative livelihoods and consider huge global problems such as over-fishing by foreign fleets and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. In addition there are cultural issues to consider, including the utilisation of these species as traditional food sources or as medicine. Another crucial consideration is the grey area between accidental by-catch of non-target species and deliberate capture.\r\n<br>The Partnership also highlighted issues relating to weak legislation and poor enforcement of existing laws. The need for capacity development to assist authorities in recognising and addressing wildlife crime issues, as well as educational outreach measures at community level were also raised as important priorities.\r\n<br>Challenges faced in implementation
Securing the needed funding to organise the first AAWP workshop turned out to be difficult. Thanks to an emergency budget prepared by OceanCare the workshop could be realised.\r\n<br>\r\n<br>Despite the enormity of the task ahead, members of the Partnership were hopeful and particularly praised the initiatives already underway at a local level in several countries. The Partnership will allow for better knowledge exchange and for learnings of these existing projects to benefit and inspire work to begin elsewhere.\r\n<br>Beneficiaries
- Marine ecosystem\r\n<br>- Local people\r\n<br>- Endangered, threatened and protected species.\r\n<br>- Decision makers and MEAs\r\n<br>