West Africa · public research route

Cabo Verde

Cabo Verde is organized here as a West Africa research route covering 2 public-policy areas. The route begins with Fisheries (tuna purse-seine, foreign distant-water fleets), Plastics (marine and coastal litter).

Executive summary

This page is a structured research guide to institutions, public frameworks, and possible lines of inquiry in Cabo Verde. It supports rapid orientation and identifies where current primary-source verification is required.

Research-use notice. This material is for research and educational use. Information may be incomplete or out of date. Verify primary sources, current law, institutional authority, source dates, and local applicability before acting. This site does not provide legal, financial, investment, regulatory, or implementation advice.

Fisheries (tuna purse-seine, foreign distant-water fleets)

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Fisheries observers and port inspectors document under-reported catch, bycatch, and transshipment at Mindelo and Praia.
  • Report VMS gaps and licence-fee shortfalls to the national fisheries authority and ICCAT compliance channels.

Ministry of the Sea / Direcção Nacional de Recursos Marinhos, Instituto do Mar (IMar), ICCAT observer programme

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Condition financing of fishing, processing, and cold-chain projects on traceability and sustainable-sourcing certification.
  • Direct blue-economy and development finance toward domestic landing and processing capacity rather than raw export access.

African Development Bank, World Bank, Banco de Cabo Verde, EU blue-economy funding instruments

Regulator / Agency

  • Set and enforce catch limits, observer coverage, and licence terms for foreign vessels in the EEZ.
  • Operate vessel monitoring and at-sea inspection to deter IUU fishing.
  • Publish access-fee revenue and catch data for public audit.

Ministry of the Sea, Direcção Nacional de Recursos Marinhos, Guarda Costeira (Coast Guard)

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • Reform EU Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement terms to reward stock recovery and observer coverage.
  • Use ICCAT quota and compliance mechanisms to bind distant-water fleets to recovery thresholds.

International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), European Union (DG MARE), FAO

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Plastics (marine and coastal litter)

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Municipal waste workers and hotel staff report illegal dumping and uncollected coastal waste.
  • Document import of banned single-use plastics to environmental authorities.

Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, municipal câmaras, hotel and tourism operators

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Finance recycling, waste-to-resource, and collection infrastructure across the islands.
  • Require tourism developers to fund waste management as a condition of investment.

African Development Bank, World Bank, EU environmental funding, Banco de Cabo Verde

Regulator / Agency

  • Enforce the single-use plastic restrictions and packaging import rules.
  • Mandate extended producer responsibility and monitor coastal litter.

Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Direcção Nacional do Ambiente, municipal governments

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • Participate in the UN global plastics treaty negotiations and Abidjan Convention for the West African coast.
  • Coordinate transboundary marine-litter monitoring with UNEP.

UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Abidjan Convention, FAO / IMO MARPOL Annex V

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Research references

Use the public glossary for terminology and the selected publications and working papers for public evidence and methods.