Fifteen countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe adopted the Mombasa Declaration on 17 June 2026. Together, they committed to advance global fisheries transparency and strengthen efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The declaration was adopted during the 11th meeting of the international Our Ocean Conference, held in Mombasa, Kenya. Africa had the most countries signing on: Cameroon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, the Republic of the Congo and Somalia.
“In my country, our very existence depends on fish,” said Emelia Arthur, Ghana’s Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, in a statement shared with Mongabay. “Sixty per cent of our animal protein comes from fish, and ten per cent of our population depends on the fisheries value chain for livelihood. Fisheries are a matter of culture and national security for us. I’m happy that Ghana is among the first countries to sign the Mombasa Declaration,” she added.
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Illegal fishing perpetrators are getting more and more sophisticated in the way they are evading from one country’s laws and regulations by moving to another one. This needs to end.
Cephas Asare, West Africa regional manager, Environmental Justice Foundation
Countries hope that by working together to harmonise regulations and share information on vessels operating in their territorial waters, they will become more effective in their fight against IUU fishing.
“Illegal fishing perpetrators are getting more and more sophisticated in the way they are evading one country’s laws and regulations by moving to another one,” Cephas Asare told Mongabay in a phone call. Asare is the West Africa regional manager for the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), a British NGO working to combat illegal fishing. “This needs to end. That is why we need to address the issue together, to be more transparent, to track them and hopefully end illegal fishing,” Asare said.
Among the measures promoted by the declaration, signatory countries have committed to adopting the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency. The charter calls for publishing fishing licenses, authorisations, access agreements and fishing quota allocations. It also encourages countries to ensure that all industrial fishing vessels have unique vessel identifiers (UVIs) and to progressively implement UVIs for small-scale vessels.
During a press conference in Mombasa, the signatory countries called on representatives from other coastal states to adopt the declaration as well.
Asare told Mongabay that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs West African countries millions of dollars every year, threatens fish stocks and undermines food security for millions of people.
This story was published with permission from Mongabay.com.
