Côte d'Ivoire institutes fishing closures by decree to protect fish stocks

Côte d'Ivoire's government has adopted a decree establishing seasonal fishing closures in the country's maritime, lagoon and lake waters to protect fish stocks and allow them to recover naturally, government spokesperson Amadou Coulibaly said after a cabinet meeting held on Wednesday in Abidjan.

During the closure periods, all fishing vessels, boats and individuals are barred from carrying out any fishing operations in the waters concerned, Coulibaly said.

The decree is issued under a July 26, 2016 law on fisheries and aquaculture and in line with the country's international commitments on the sustainable conservation of fishery resources, the government said. Exact dates, the areas covered and the penalties were not detailed in the information released.

The closures, known locally as "repos biologique" or biological rest, are not new. Applied since 2023, they were previously announced each year by the Ministry of Animal and Fisheries Resources. In the 2026 edition, industrial trawling and sardine fishing were closed from July 1 to Aug. 31, small-scale marine fishing from July 1 to July 31, and semi-industrial vessels were allowed to catch only tuna and related species.

In inland waters, including the lakes of Kossou, Buyo, Soubré and Taabo, gill nets and fish traps are banned from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31, according to the Ivorian news agency AIP.

Animal and Fisheries Resources Minister Sidi Tiémoko Touré has described the policy as an ecological, economic and social imperative. According to his figures, catches in Ivorian waters rose from 85,727 tonnes in 2022 to 102,873 tonnes in 2025, an increase of about 20%.

The rise follows a long decline. Marine output had fallen from 69,769 tonnes in 2003 to 42,738 tonnes in 2020, a drop authorities attributed to overfishing.

The country remains heavily reliant on imports, estimated at around 650,000 tonnes of fish a year, against domestic production of 110,000 tonnes, according to trade press data published in 2024.

The minister has said in previous years that no significant rise in fish prices was observed during closure periods.