Madagascar takes key step toward improving transparency of its fisheries

Madagascar recently released its first fisheries transparency report, part of an effort to open up, democratize, and improve the sustainability of its fisheries sector. The report is a key step in a process defined by the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), a Seychelles-based nonprofit.

FiTI announced on Jan. 26 that Madagascar had published the report, covering the 2022 fiscal year and containing previously undisclosed information, in December. Madagascar is one of just a handful of countries to have achieved this step in the FiTI process, Cabo Verde having published its first report around the same time. The same day, the U.S. pledged support to help Madagascar fight illegal fishing.

The launch of the FiTI report is a first step towards better transparency of the fisheries sector in Madagascar,” Ketakandriana Rafitoson, executive director of Transparency International–Initiative Madagascar (TI-MG) and an author of the report as well as a current FiTI board member, told Mongabay. “However, a lot of efforts still have to be undertaken to fully comply with the FiTI’s 12 transparency requirements.”

The fisheries industry is one of the most vital and lucrative in Madagascar, an island nation with more than 5,600 kilometers (3,500 miles) of coastline and around 1.2 million square kilometers (463,300 square miles) of economic exclusive zone. The sector has an annual production capacity of $750 million, which is 5-7% of the national GDP, according to the fisheries ministry citing World Bank data. More than 500,000 fishers living along the island’s coastline rely on marine resources for food and incomes while feeding millions of people.

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livus, 2 months ago

From the article:

Lack of transparency in Madagascar’s fisheries sector has long raised concerns, with reports of foreign vessels abusively exhausting fish stocks in the country’s waters, and secretive fishing deals with shadowy foreign companies.

The report, drafted by consultant Eric Beantanana for Madagascar’s multistakeholder group (MSG), a committee that oversees the country’s participation in the FiTI process, provides information about traditional, artisanal and industrial fisheries, a list of the laws and regulations governing the sector, tenure arrangements, and access agreements. It also assesses the country’s transparency according to the availability and accessibility of data from six thematic areas as outlined by the FiTI Standard.

Most important, details on large vessels, both foreign and domestic, operating in Madagascar’s waters were made public for the first time: their manner of operation, license delivery process, duration of the agreements under which they operate, quotas, catches, taxes paid, and the fisheries ministry’s use of the money earned from the agreements.

The report also lists recommendations for the Madagascar government to continue improving transparency. For example, to digitize any documents relating to fisheries laws, regulations and policies so they are publicly available, and to progressively eliminate confidentiality clauses in fishing agreements it signs with foreign entities, among other recommendations.

Madagascar embarked on the FiTI process three years ago. Tsimanaoraty Paubert Mahatante, Madagascar’s minister of fisheries and blue economy and a fisheries scientist himself, told Mongabay that as soon as he was appointed minister in August 2021, he wrote to the FiTI board indicating the country’s willingness to join. “They are astonished at the beginning,” he said. “It was the first time to see a minister writing to them and sharing his will to join this organization.”

Madagascar and five other countries — Cabo Verde, Ecuador, Mauritania, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Seychelles — are currently FiTI “candidate countries.” Each has an MSG comprising representatives of government, civil society and the private sector to guide and report annually on its progress toward meeting the 12 transparency requirements of the FiTI Standard. By demonstrating consistent progress toward that standard, they can eventually become “FiTI Compliant” countries, a status that requires regular reporting and validation by FiTI to maintain.

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