On November 5-6, 2024, PERSGA (the Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden) convened a regional expert meeting to review progress on the SFISH project. This meeting was held in preparation for the upcoming Mid-term Review regional workshop scheduled for the week of December 1-5, 2024 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The two-day expert meeting provided a valuable forum for stakeholders from the region to discuss critical issues. Key outcomes included refining a shared roadmap for enhancing joint efforts to address IUU (illegal, unreported, and unregulated) fishing. This involved developing a Regional Action Plan to combat IUU fishing, improving fisheries data collection and stock assessment, and advancing the adoption of the “Regional Protocol Concerning Cooperation in Management of Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden”.

Discussions also addressed conservation efforts for endangered marine species like sharks, turtles, seabirds and mammals. Overall, the meeting enhanced regional collaboration and strengthened capacity to implement sustainable fisheries strategies across the region.

The meeting also discussed the new PERSGA regional database and information management system, which was recently designed and established by the project, and includes wide-ranging components to store and manage data collected through regional standard methods for monitoring marine ecosystems (seawater, key habitats and species), fisheries statistics, pollution incidences, and other aspects.

The meeting was attended by 25 participants from 7 Member States, including high-level government officials responsible for marine fisheries administration, as well as national coordinators of the SFISH project.