A day after valentine’s day, we stepped out to the airport (Victor Attah International Airport) and what looked like a fun outing (….and yes we did have fun) was actually for awareness creation, we couldn’t deprive people of the opportunity to be a part of this awesome thing we were doing. Our awareness campaign took us to the Tropicana mall, NAMA, and other fun (and not so fun) places…. we wanted to let the world know about our fast-approaching conference and what we are so passionate about.
For over a year, we have been committed to the FNG WA Project which was geared towards raising awareness on the adverse effects of Abandoned, Lost, or otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear on the marine ecosystem and environment; providing sustainable solutions to these problems and buffering the economic effects on the coastal communities by teaching them how to upcycle these fishing gears into utilizable crafts. The Fishing Net Gains West Africa was born out of our affiliation with the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) and has received far-reaching support from various international partners such as the Joanna Toole Foundation (JTF), Oceans Conservancy (OC), Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) United Kingdom, etc.
As part of the event lineup of the project year, we organized the FNG WA Conference with the theme; Marine litter and the African Coast: Collaboration for sustainable fisheries in oceans in Africa which was held from the 16th-17th of February 2022. Although the conference was organized virtually due to the peculiar limitations incited by the COVID pandemic, the aim to bring about necessary reforms and actions needed to address Ghost Fishing was not defeated.
As part of the project itself, the conference was to buttress the essence of the project which includes ghost gear and marine litter in general. During the conference, a lot of what we do, have done, and aim to do were discussed. Before the materialization of the conference, we had set out objectives which we had hoped to achieve, and while at that stage, the feasibility of it all could not have been ascertained, we are however excited to inform you that we, amongst other things, were able to achieve our objectives of:
- Raising public awareness on the impact of Abandoned, Lost or Otherwise Discarded fishing net;
- Proffering solutions to tackling the issues of ALDFGs in coastal communities
- Generating relevant data on ALDFGs in Coastal communities
- Improving the livelihood of host communities by upcycling recovered fishing gears into craft innovations.
- Promoting community integration and participation in the fishing net gains projects through HubNet.
- Initiate and promote the establishment of a Ghost Gear Dive community in Africa.
The conference had in attendance several key stakeholders in the fisheries, maritime and environmental sectors and prevalent marine and environmental issues such as marine litter and other challenges faced by the different stakeholders were addressed.
Six Breakout sessions were incorporated into the conference to discuss these pressing issues affecting the marine environment in more detail. On the first day, we were feverish with excitement, hoping that the outcome would match the energy we’d invested. We’d invited stakeholders in the fisheries, maritime and environmental management sector in Nigeria and other West African Countries such as Federal and State Government, Environmental NGOs, Oil Companies, Divers, Artisanal Fishermen, Fishing Community Leaders, Trawling Companies, Academia hoping we could engage them in; creating awareness about ghost gears and their impacts on the African coast,
- improving the livelihood of coastal communities along the coast of West Africa
- promoting information sharing on hazardous fishing areas prone to challenges of ghost gears,
- recommending policies and measures for effective waste management at seaports and jetties,
- supporting actions towards the establishment of Marine Protected Areas MPAs around the coast of Africa,
- initiating and promoting the development of the ghost gear dive community in Africa, and
- recommending measures to achieve sustainable fishing.
On the morning of the D-day, despite our anxiety, we hosted a smooth (if we say so ourselves) virtual conference thanks mostly to our ICT team who were busy as bees behind the scenes. It is pertinent to note that this virtual conference was the first of its kind in our history. One of the highlights of the first day was our breakout sessions where further discussions were made by the relevant stakeholders as it relates to the theme of the event, segmenting the conference into small, specialized, and intense groups. There were six breakout sessions discussed; Marine Protected Areas, Ghost Gear Diving, Fishing and Women Empowerment, Sustainable Fishing Gears/Techniques, Ghost Gears/Plastic Waste Management, Project Partnership, and Collaboration.
This encouraged the participation of attendees and panelists and fostered the unique and innovative exchange of information and knowledge to bring about the desired change to the marine environment.
At the end of the conference, a document that highlighted the various action plans and the commitment of various stakeholders was created to guide the implementation of conference resolutions.
There were over three hundred and fifty-six (356) registrants for the conference were, however, about seventy-seven (77) persons were in attendance on the first day and over fifty-five (55) persons attended on day two of the event.
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