English

South West Indian Ocean Tuna Forum (SWIOTUNA), SWIOTUNA is a regional marine-related network registered in Kenya as an international NGO with its membership drawn from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), community fisheries collective action units and Private Sector from the coastal nations and island states of Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius, Comoros, Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya. In Kenya we work with Tuna Fisheries Alliance of Kenya (TuFAK), in Tanzania we work with Tuna Alliance of Tanzania (TUNA), in Mozambique we work with Forum for CSOs for Marine and Coastal Areas (FOSCAMC), in Madagascar we work with Coalition Nationale de Plaidoyer Environmental (CNPE). In Mauritius and Seychelles we work in partnership with a network of fishers called Federation of the Fishers of the Indian Ocean (FPAOI).

The forum provides a capacity-building opportunity to the CSOs working on marine and fisheries-related issues to advocate for sustainable use, development, and management of marine fisheries in the South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) range states to ensure that the respective countries and local communities derive more socio-economic benefits from their fisheries resources.

The aim of the network is to influence, shape and lobby for effective fisheries and marine resources conservation and management policies and programs as well as transparent and accountable ocean governance processes in the South West Indian Ocean region. We empower coastal communities and country-level latent networks through self-organizing, communicative, and collective action.

The formulation and implementation of effective fisheries management and development policies play a vital role in ensuring stock sustainability and enhancing socio-economic benefits for local communities and Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) range states. SWIOTUNA members have actively contributed to the development of relevant policies, fishery-specific management plans, and necessary policy reforms. They have participated in creating national tuna strategies, the Policy Framework and Reform Strategy for Fisheries and Aquaculture in Africa, and regional Minimum Terms and Conditions (MTC) for granting fisheries access.

Additionally, we are engaged in promoting the sustainable blue economy agenda. At the national level, our members have been involved in crafting pertinent policies and management plans tailored to specific fisheries. Regionally, we are affiliated with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, the Nairobi Convention, and the UNEP Civil Society Platform, where we advocate for the voices of communities and small-scale fishers in decision-making processes.