{"id":76620,"date":"2025-06-12T07:55:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T07:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-pledges-to-combat-illegal-fishing-and-ocean-crimes"},"modified":"2025-06-12T08:10:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T08:10:17","slug":"liberia-pledges-to-combat-illegal-fishing-and-ocean-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-pledges-to-combat-illegal-fishing-and-ocean-crimes","title":{"rendered":"Liberia Pledges to Combat Illegal Fishing and Ocean Crimes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Liberia. <\/strong><\/span>Liberia has vowed to crack down on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, while championing global transparency and accountability in its marine governance. The announcement came on Tuesday, June 10, as the Commissioner\/CEO of the Liberia Maritime Authority (LiMA), Cllr. Neto Zarzar Lighe Sr. addressed a high-profile side event at the Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing a packed room of ministers and delegates from France, Ghana, the Maldives, Panama, and beyond, Liberia\u2019s Maritime Authority Commissioner and CEO, underscored his country\u2019s renewed commitment to ocean governance. He highlighted Liberia\u2019s determination to transform maritime management and empower coastal communities that rely on marine resources for their livelihoods.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLiberia will not serve as a safe harbor for illegal fishing activities,\u201d he declared, drawing applause from assembled dignitaries. \u201cWe remain steadfast in our resolve to end IUU fishing and bring greater transparency to our ocean governance systems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Commissioner\/CEO Lighe, Sr. highlighted Liberia\u2019s strides since its pivotal pledge at the 2022 Lisbon Ocean Conference, including the adoption of the National Blue Economy Strategy and the ratification of the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA). These steps, he emphasized, are critical to protecting Liberia\u2019s fisheries sector, which supports 80 percent of the country\u2019s population as a primary protein source and employs around 60 percent women in coastal communities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur future is closely tied to the health of our oceans,\u201d he told the delegates, noting that fisheries account for nearly 10 percent of Liberia\u2019s GDP. But he warned that IUU fishing and overfishing continue to undermine local livelihoods, fueling organized maritime crime and threatening food security.<\/p>\n<p>Liberia\u2019s efforts, Commissioner\/CEO Lighe, Sr. explained, extend beyond national boundaries. As the current President of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), Liberia has positioned itself as a regional leader in tackling IUU fishing. \u201cWe are committed to eliminating IUU fishing from our waters and championing this cause across the subregion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Commissioner reaffirmed the country\u2019s endorsement of the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency, urging fellow states to join the fight against illicit fishing operations. He stressed that Liberia would work to make beneficial ownership information fully accessible to expose the true beneficiaries of crimes at sea.<\/p>\n<p>He also announced Liberia\u2019s ratification and submission of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, a milestone in global ocean governance. Additional efforts, he said, include plans to ratify the ILO Work in Fishing Convention (C188) and the Cape Town Agreement to protect workers\u2019 rights and safety at sea.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing the challenges inherited from Liberia\u2019s history of conflict, Commissioner\/CEO Lighe, Sr. acknowledged that rebuilding the fisheries sector is an uphill battle but insisted that progress is already underway. \u201cOur government is determined to restore Liberia\u2019s fishing industry to its former strength,\u201d he pledged, aligning these efforts with the national ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID).<\/p>\n<p>Community empowerment emerged as a cornerstone of Liberia\u2019s ocean strategy. Commissioner Lighe, Sr. emphasized that coastal communities, especially women, are on the frontlines of both the challenges and the solutions to ocean governance. \u201cWe must support communities in ensuring that our system and resources remain sustainable,\u201d he urged, underscoring the human dimension of the fight against maritime crimes.<\/p>\n<p>In closing, he called on the international community for continued support in enforcement, traceability, and governance. \u201cGovernments, industry actors, civil society, non-governmental organizations, and the global community must come together to protect our oceans and the livelihoods of those that depend on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Organized by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), the event underscored the interconnectedness between healthy oceans and the well-being of millions worldwide. For Liberia, it marked a decisive step toward transforming its maritime sector from a vulnerable target of exploitation to a model of sustainable management and resilience.<\/p>\n<p>As the sun set over the azure Mediterranean, Liberia\u2019s message was clear: the fight against ocean crimes demands both global solidarity and local action, and the country is ready to lead by example.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Liberia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Liberia. Liberia has vowed to crack down on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, while championing global transparency and accountability in its marine governance. The announcement came on Tuesday, June 10, as the Commissioner\/CEO of the Liberia Maritime Authority (LiMA), Cllr. Neto Zarzar Lighe Sr. addressed a high-profile side event at the Third [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":76619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-76620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-liberia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Liberia Pledges to Combat Illegal Fishing and Ocean Crimes - Liberia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Liberia has vowed to crack down on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, while championing global transpar ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-pledges-to-combat-illegal-fishing-and-ocean-crimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Liberia Pledges to Combat Illegal Fishing and Ocean Crimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Liberia has vowed to crack down on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, while championing global transpar ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-pledges-to-combat-illegal-fishing-and-ocean-crimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Liberia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-12T07:55:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-12T08:10:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2025\/06\/sm_1749703002.726456.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-pledges-to-combat-illegal-fishing-and-ocean-crimes#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-pledges-to-combat-illegal-fishing-and-ocean-crimes\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Liberia Pledges to Combat Illegal Fishing and Ocean Crimes\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-12T07:55:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-12T08:10:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-pledges-to-combat-illegal-fishing-and-ocean-crimes\"},\"wordCount\":688,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-pledges-to-combat-illegal-fishing-and-ocean-crimes#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2025\/06\/sm_1749703002.726456.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Liberia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-pledges-to-combat-illegal-fishing-and-ocean-crimes#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-pledges-to-combat-illegal-fishing-and-ocean-crimes\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-pledges-to-combat-illegal-fishing-and-ocean-crimes\",\"name\":\"Liberia Pledges to Combat Illegal Fishing and Ocean Crimes - 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