Southwest Indian Ocean Fisheries Project - SWIOFP

The proposed project is one of several projects that will be linked among IAs to address fisheries issues of the two LMEs in the SW Indian Ocean (Somali Current and Agulhus Current). This proposal is from the World Bank with an objective of developing and then implementing a management strategy that links biodi protection of fish species to sustainable use of the fisheries. Distant water fishing fleets are likely depleting the WIO within the 200 mile EEZ of some of the countries. However, the status of the fisheries is virtually unknown. Without this information there are barriers to establishing management institutions under the Law of the Sea. The intent is that bilateral grants, GEF, and IDA finance(APL) can be mobilized to develop the institutions necessary to sustainably manage the economically valuable fisheries, conserve for artisinal and community purposes the overlapping nearshore fisheries, sustain the related biodiversity, and mobilize coastal communities.