RABAT, Morocco – The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) has signed an agreement with the Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation among African States Bordering the Atlantic Ocean (ATLAFCO/COMHAFAT) to strengthen cooperation on sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, and ocean governance.
Dr. Marc Williams, CRFM Executive Director (left), and Mr. Taoufik El Ktiri, ExecutiveIt said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) unites two regional intergovernmental organisations with shared interests in the sustainable use of aquatic resources, strengthening food and nutrition security, and expanding the economic opportunities that healthy oceans can provide.
It said it creates a platform to exchange knowledge, expertise, technologies, and institutional experience across the Atlantic while advancing mutually beneficial Africa–Caribbean and South–South cooperation.
The CRFM said that for fishers, fish farmers, processors, vendors, and coastal communities, the framework creates opportunities for cooperation that can support better fisheries management, safer and more traceable seafood, stronger value chains, and greater resilience to climate change.
The chair of the CRFM Ministerial Council, Randy Baltimore, described the agreement as an important step toward strengthening relations between the two regions.
“Africa and the Caribbean share a deep connection to the ocean and a common responsibility to ensure that its resources sustain our people for generations to come.
“This agreement provides an important platform for translating shared priorities into practical cooperation that supports food security, protects livelihoods, and creates opportunities for our fishing and aquaculture communities. We look forward to a relationship grounded in mutual respect, shared learning, and tangible benefits for our member states,” Baltimore said.
The MoU outlines a broad range of areas in which the organisations may cooperate, subject to their respective mandates, priorities, and available resources.
These include sustainable fisheries and stronger action against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, including monitoring, control, and surveillance, port State measures, and capacity development, aquaculture and mariculture development, with attention to technology, investment, biosecurity, aquatic animal health, and climate-resilient production systems.
It also allows for digital transformation and scientific cooperation, including fisheries statistics, electronic reporting, information management, advanced technologies, and collaboration among scientific networks, universities, and research institutions, seafood traceability, food safety, and market development, supporting stronger aquatic food value chains, market information, and trade opportunities.
The MoU also allows for climate resilience and sustainable Blue Economy development, including disaster risk reduction, access to climate finance, renewable energy applications, and investment mobilization, ocean governance and biodiversity, including marine spatial planning, ecosystem-based management, and cooperation on relevant international fisheries and ocean instruments and sargassum research and management, including monitoring, utilization, innovation, and investment opportunities.
The agreement also provides for professional training, technical exchanges, study visits, fellowships, and joint scientific activities. Cooperation between ATLAFCO’s scientific network and CRFM’s scientific and technical networks could connect expertise across regions and strengthen the evidence available to fisheries managers and policymakers.
CRFM executive director, Dr. Marc Williams, spoke of the importance of translating the framework into focused, achievable initiatives.
“The value of this MoU will be measured by the practical improvements it enables. By connecting our scientific networks, sharing technologies and institutional experience, and developing joint proposals, we can strengthen the information, skills, and partnerships needed to manage fisheries more effectively.
“Our ambition is to help turn knowledge into better decisions, innovation into useful tools, and cooperation into lasting benefits for the people who depend on fisheries and aquaculture,” Williams said.
The CRFM said designated focal points within each organization will support implementation. The MoU provides for mutually agreed annual or multi-year work programs that set out priority activities, expected results, responsibilities, and indicative resource requirements, along with progress reviews at least annually.
The framework also enables organisations to develop joint programs, projects, and investment proposals and, where mutually agreed, to approach development partners, financial institutions, and relevant funding mechanisms. This creates an avenue to mobilize support around shared priorities while ensuring activities remain realistic and responsive to Member States’ needs.
The MoU establishes a non-binding framework for cooperation and does not, in itself, commit either organization to expenditure. Activities with financial obligations will require separate written arrangements and the appropriate approvals. Cooperation will respect the sovereign rights, international obligations, and independent positions of the organizations’ respective member states.
The CRFM said that the agreement provides an initial three-year term, effective upon signature and completion of the respective internal approval procedures and can be renewed by mutual written agreement.
It said through this framework, CRFM and ATLAFCO/COMHAFAT are strengthening the foundations for sustained exchange of ideas, expertise, and practical solutions across the Atlantic—supporting sustainable aquatic food systems and more resilient coastal economies in both regions.
