About Fisherman

The project “Capacity building for sustainable Fisheries Management in the Southwest Indian Ocean” (FisherMan) is co-financed by the European Commission through the ACP Edulink programme.

FisherMan aims at supporting higher education institutions in the region to create new training programmes in sustainable fisheries management.

Background

Current coastal and marine resources in South-Western Indian Ocean (SWIO) region are under increasing human and industrial pressure. The continued decline of these resources is due to poorly coordinated and unplanned resources exploitation.

At the same time, the importance of marine fisheries to the national economies and food security of Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, Comoros Islands and Republic of Seychelles is increasing.

Hence, it is important to ensure effective management of resources to achieve ecological and economic sustainability.

Consequently, the challenge is in providing a cadre of well-trained and well-equipped practitioners and professionals in sustainable fisheries management.

Objective

The general objective is to support Southwest Indian Ocean region universities to prepare a new generation of skilled professionals for a sustainable fisheries management in the region.

Working together on the project are five universities from the region (Comoros, Madagascar, Mozambique, Seychelles and Tanzania) and two universities from the EU (Spain and Portugal).

Outcomes & Outputs

The project addresses both institutional capacity building and improvements in academic quality and relevance in the region, leading to

  • Enhanced contribution to national and regional policies on cooperation in  higher education on fisheries management studies.
  • Increased inter-institutional networking between HEIs in the ACP and with EU HEIs, including institutions offering teacher training, degrees and diplomas contributing to regional solutions to teacher shortages.
  • Upgraded qualifications of academic staff of ACP HEIs;
  • Improved institutional frameworks to pursue academic programmes and academic excellence in ACP HEIs.
  • Increased mobility of postgraduate students and teaching staff through the provision of joint programmes.
  • Graduates with the skills corresponding to those required in the national and regional labour markets.