From July 15th-19th, U.S. Embassy Freetown led a strategic seminar on the critical issue of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and associated crimes for members of Sierra Leone’s Joint Maritime Committee at the Sierra Leone Naval Base in Murray Town, Freetown.

A delegation from the U.S. Coast Guard and the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement facilitated discussions on how to improve accountability for IUU fishing, which threatens the livelihoods of local fishers adhering to regulations and causes severe environmental damage.

The counter IUU Fishing seminar commenced with remarks from the Commodore of the Sierra Leone Navy, Philip Jesbert Juana. Spotlighting the issue, Commodore Juana expressed the need for focused efforts by the Joint Maritime Committee to apprehend illegal fishers, track down transnational criminal networks, and enforce environmental regulations to save precious marine resources from disappearing from the coastline.

Thirty-one members of the Joint Maritime Committee attended the seminar including members from the Sierra Leone Navy, Sierra Leone Police Marine Division, Sierra Leone Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Office of National Security, Sierra Leone Maritime Administration, and Sierra Leone Ports and Harbor Authority personnel.

Throughout the seminar, the U.S. delegation and Sierra Leonean participants emphasized the goal of working together to protect Sierra Leone’s natural ocean resources, highlighting how they are a key source of income for many people in addition to being important for the local ecosystem.

The U.S. delegation explained that Sierra Leone is not alone in the fight against IUU Fishing, and that a coalition of like-minded partners can work together to check criminal operations that take advantage of challenges posed to law enforcement.

The U.S. Embassy, in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard, also led a course on maritime emergencies last month. The Embassy looks forward to continued partnership in the future.