Tunisia: Improvement of the governance and management systems of the fisheries sector

Project background

The marine fishing sector in Tunisia is facing the following difficulties:

• General decline in the production of demersal species due to the widespread anarchic fishing, overexploitation, the effects of climate change, the exacerbation of pollution in fishing areas
• The intended upgrading of the sea fishing sector suffers from the dilapidation of ports, poor monitoring and control in some ports and marketing channels. The absence of quality evaluation of products and the reluctance to adopt distinctive quality brands make it difficult to give greater added value to the Tunisian product and greater exposure to it on international markets.
• Tensions and interactions between inshore fishing and offshore aquaculture activities, and the low level of training and supervision of seafarers, particularly in the use of modern selective technologies and techniques, and the low level of participation by inshore fishermen in social funds and their reluctance to participate in insurance companies
• Institutional mismatch in relation to the development of the sector (dispersion and overlapping of the tasks of certain institutions), lack of human capacity in certain specialisations (control officers and specialists in legislation, accounting, statistics, civil engineering)
• Limited market and low competitiveness of aquaculture products in finding outlets on foreign markets, and first signs of declining profitability in aquaculture businesses
   

Financed by the European Union through the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the support project for the sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture resources in Tunisia (MEDFISHTUN) has the general objective of helping to modernise the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Tunisia, by improving the sustainability of resource management. Three specific objectives are being pursued:
a.    To improve knowledge and monitoring of fisheries resources
b.    Increase the quality and traceability of fishery products in Tunisia
c.    Contribute to improving the governance of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors with a view to improving their sustainability

Objectives

The aim of the study is, on the one hand, to carry out a detailed inventory and in-depth analysis of current fisheries management methods and measures in Tunisia and, on the other hand, to draw up a recovery plan for the optimal and concerted management of Tunisian fisheries. A study based on three successive phases will be carried out:

Phase I - Diagnosis and assessment of fisheries management 
Phase II - Proposal for a recovery plan for a new optimised fisheries management system 
Phase III - Development of a proposal for a new basic law on fishing and fisheries management

Activities

Phase I Diagnosis

• Description of the situation of the main fish stocks in Tunisian waters
• Summary of the current state and development of the fishing industry and its stakeholders
• Description of markets and distribution channels for fishery products
• Analysis of the legal framework, fisheries policy and management plans for Tunisian fisheries resources 
• Description of the method for collecting statistical and dockside monitoring data at fishing ports and landing sites
• Analysis and evaluation of the new decision-making information system (SID) for fisheries and aquaculture
• Analysis of the fisheries and aquaculture governance in view of the development and management of the sectors
• Analysis of the fisheries subsidy and support system - legal, institutional and organisational aspects

Phase II Proposal for a recovery plan

• Identification and characterisation of priority fisheries
• Detailed description of the organisational and institutional reforms required to implement the recovery plan
• Drawing up a plan for collecting statistical data, information and monitoring fishery products at the quayside
• Implementation of an institutional development action plan
• Proposal of measures and tools for the adjustment and proper operation of existing systems

Phase III Proposal for a new fisheries law

• Develop a proposal for a new law on fishing activities
• Propose draft implementing regulation for the law
• Consolidate the texts of the law