About SWIOFP

The West Indian Ocean (WIO) is the site of some of the most dynamic and variable large marine ecosystems (LMEs) in the world. Large currents with complexities such as the Agulhas Current retroflection, migrating anti-cyclonic eddies in the Mozambique Channel and di-polar vortices off East Madagascar induce variability into ecosystems of the region. In addition, coupling between atmospheric circulation and ocean processes lead to extensive monsoon systems that in turn lead to the development of unique events, such as the seasonal Somali LME, one of the most intense and nutrient-rich coastal upwelling systems in the world. Similarly, the Agulhas LME, to the south, represents a region of dynamic nutrient cycling and associated fisheries potential. These two large LMEs, as well as the influence of the 2 000 km long Mascarene Plateau, have a profound basin-wide and transboundary influence over the region’s ecosystems, biodiversity and fishery resources (Spencer et al. 2005). These WIO LMEs are unique and of great regional, and probable global, importance. Yet there is generally little information about these LMEs and the systems or mechanisms that link them. Nor is there adequate and specific information about the species composition, distribution, and behavior and migration patterns of fishery resources associated with these systems (www.wiofish.org). At their present level of economic development, countries of the WIO region are neither able to estimate the potential of their marine ecosystems nor to draw sustainable long-term benefits from them.

The world’s marine environment has been divided into 19 major fishing areas by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). One of the largest of these is the West Indian Ocean, accounting for some 8% of total marine waters, at 30 million square kilometers. While global trends in fish landings for most of the 19 areas are negative, the West Indian Ocean has maintained a steady rate of increase in total landings. This has largely been as a result of the increased harvest of tuna and tuna-like species, along with recent additions of tooth fish and orange roughly. While the FAO reports that total catch is relatively modest at about 4 million, only 4.6% of the worlds total marine fish landings, it is seen by distant fleets as an opportunity to offset their decreased landings from other regions. This body of water provides sustenance and job opportunities to an ever-increasing human population, but riparian countries lack the capacity to draw appropriate benefits from the resources in their exclusive economic zones (EEZ). Furthermore, the Indian Ocean is the only ocean fully surrounded by developing countries, with close on half the world’s population residing in countries that edge on it. The challenges faced in meeting expectations and demands are enormous – more especially so in times of drought, climate change and unsettled socio-economic conditions.

Recognizing these facts, countries of the region have developed a collaborative project that embraces their own fishery-related needs and expectations in a regional and transboundary context. Known as the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Project (SWIOFP), implemented by the World Bank, it is one of a trio of linked GEF-supported projects that that is set to provide an overall transboundary diagnostic analysis (TDA) and associated Strategic Action Plan (SAP). The other two projects being the West Indian Ocean Land Based Sources of Pollution (WIOLaB) implemented by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Agulhas-Somali LME study (ASLME) implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).