Published: August 18, 2025
The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) has launched a groundbreaking digital platform – Fisheries Information Management System (FIMS), to modernize the management, monitoring, and regulation of the fisheries sector.
The launch, held on Friday, August 15, 2025, under the theme “Digitalizing Fisheries Governance: Enhancing Transparency, Efficiency, and Sustainability”, was hailed as a milestone for fisheries reform.
The platform was developed with support from the World Bank through the Liberia Sustainable Management of Fisheries Project (LSMFP). According to NaFAA, the FIMS will enable an end-to-end digital processing of permits, licenses, certificates, and payments, while providing real-time monitoring of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.
Partial view of the FIMS
While welcoming the system as a breakthrough, James Dorbor Jallah, Commissioner General of the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), used his keynote address to stress that Liberia’s fisheries sector has yet to deliver its full economic value to the nation. He attributed this gap to weak data systems, manual processes, and lapses in monitoring, which he said, “have left the country vulnerable to revenue losses, inefficiencies, and non-compliance.”
“The launch of FIMS signals that Liberia is serious about protecting its marine wealth, improving compliance, and ensuring that the benefits of our fisheries are accounted for, reported, and reinvested into our economy.”
To ensure the success of the digital platform, Commissioner Jallah outlined some key recommendations, including:
Full Interagency Integration – Linking FIMS with the LRA Customs, Coast Guard, and National Port Authority to ensure a unified system for vessel registration, monitoring, and compliance.
Capacity Building – Equipping NaFAA, LRA, and partner agencies with the skills and resources needed to manage and maintain the platform effectively.
Stakeholder Sensitization – Engaging fishing communities, exporters, and industry operators to raise awareness and drive adoption of the digital system.
Data-Driven Policy and Regional Cooperation – Establishing policy frameworks to support digital transformation and facilitate cross-border collaboration in combating IUU fishing.
Sustainable Financing – Setting aside a portion of fisheries revenue to maintain and upgrade the system, ensuring it remains functional and up to date.
Jallah reaffirmed the LRA’s commitment to supporting NaFAA in digitizing vessel licensing, registration, and payments, while ensuring that every catch and transaction contributes to national development.
Also speaking at the occasion, acting NaFAA Director General, J. Cyrus Saygbe Sr., described the platform as a new era in fisheries governance, something he said will promote transparency, efficiency, and accountability. As part of ongoing reforms, acting Director Saygbe announced that NaFAA has reduced the permit processing time for fish importers from one week to 48 hours. He revealed that with the full migration to FIMS, the time for processing licenses and permits would be further reduced to 24 hours once documents are uploaded online.
“This means no more chasing papers in person, and you will no longer need to come to NaFAA offices to process your permits.”
According to him, NaFAA has already trained a group of key partners, the Collaborative Management Associations (CMAs) across Liberia’s nine coastal counties, to help remote communities transition smoothly to the digital system.
He praised NaFAA’s local and international partners, particularly the World Bank, for their continued support to the institution over the years.
The launch ceremony drew representatives from the World Bank, the European Union, the business community, and other private stakeholders, who welcomed the reforms as a step toward sustainable fisheries governance in Liberia.
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