The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Fisheries Monitoring Control and Surveillance Coordination Centre (MCSCC) has been established in the Ministry of Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries building in Maputo, Republic of Mozambique, following the entry into force of the Charter establishing the MCSCC on 08 April 2023.
The establishment of the MCSCC paves the way for coordinated measures to improve fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the SADC region.
In a symbolic gesture, the Minister of Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries of the Republic of Mozambique, Dr Lídia Cardoso on 20 April 2023, handed over keys to the Offices of the SADC MCSCC to Mr Domingos Gove, Director of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources of SADC.
The MCSCC will coordinate regional fisheries MCS data and information sharing services, including a regional fishing vessel register and monitoring system; provision of regional fisheries surveillance, observer coordination and port State measures support services; provision of fisheries law enforcement and legal support services; and help to support improvements in the capacity of national MCS systems.
The Bloomberg Oceans Fund and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has supported the MCSCC to acquire office and ICT equipment, and set up services to enable the Centre coordinate with SADC Member States. The Centre has also received support from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through WWF, the United States (US) State Department through SADC Atlantic project and SADC-AfDB PROFISHBLUE project.
The operationalisation of the MCSCC marks a turning point for which the SADC countries and relevant actors have been getting ready for the last decade. Land has been secured in Katembe, Maputo for the construction of the dedicated building for the MCSCC offices, following the handover of the official documentation for the acquisition of land by the District Municipality of Katembe to the Ministry of Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries on 21st April 2023. The World Bank will provide financial support towards the construction of MCSCC building.
