Governance in the fisheries and aquaculture sector remains a big challenge for ECOWAS despite an improvement since 2018 with the support from the European Union. This is achieved through the implementation of the Programme for Improved Regional Fisheries Governance in West Africa (PESCAO). Indeed, PESCAO contributes in strengthening social, economic and political role of the sector in the region, in particular as: (i) source of income and foreign currencies, (ii) major contributor to regional food security and important animal protein supplier for many populations and (iii) key component of livelihood for coastal communities.

New initiatives are in progress, including the TCPs of FAO on strengthening regional coordination, protection of marine ecosystem, development and scaling up of aquatic food system.

Only combination of efforts will make it possible to modernise the aquaculture and fisheries sector in the region and will thus give possibility to Member States to better take advantage of fisheries resources.