By Saywhar N. Gbaa
Being an active member of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), has placed Liberia amongst Countries whose flagged fishing vessels and transshipment vessels now have unhindered access to their ports and sea to promote economic growth and trade.
Recently, Liberia qualified for its flagged vessels to operate within the Indian Ocean space.
The Indian Ocean is home to major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. These vital sea routes, facilitate maritime trade in the Indian Ocean region carrying more than half of the world’s sea-borne oil, and host 23 of the world’s top 100 container ports of which Liberia is part of.
This commission is one of the five Regional Fisheries Management bodies that Liberia is a member that seeks to promote good governance in the Fisheries sector.
The Liberian Registry is the second largest in the world, with over 3200 ships of more than 100 million gross tons, which represents 10 percent of the world’s ocean-going fleet.
Liberia as a Flag, Coastal and Port State will now ensure that it has active status with these regional ocean & fisheries management bodies, to expand operations
beyond its national jurisdiction.
Like many other countries, the National Fisheries & Aquaculture Authority in Liberia can also make significant contribution to the national economy through the facilitation of essential operational actions, effective international, regional, sub-regional and bilateral cooperation for fisheries management; enhanced monitoring, control, and surveillance capabilities for enhanced economic returns in fisheries.
However, this can only be achieved if Liberia complies with the organization’s established Agreement and encourage sustainable development of fisheries based on such stocks.
With 10 percent of the world’s ocean-going fleet, Liberia through its National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority seeks to preserve the economic value of the sector by improving fish quality and value addition technologies for enhanced economic returns in fisheries sector.