Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing is a severe global problem and one of the main obstructions to the achievement of sustainable fisheries that results in loss of revenue, jobs and livelihoods. The countries of the Southern and Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean Region (ESA-IO) are particularly hampered with IUU fishing and one of the limiting factors in overcoming IUU fishing is lack of adequate human and institutional capacity and equipment in the area of monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS). The problem of IUU fishing has been acknowledged in various policy commitments that are in force in the region with pledges made to fight it. The SmartFish programme is an initiative set up to promote regional integration through practical implementation of sound fisheries initiatives. It has a strong component on MCS and within this area has undertaken this comprehensive review of the capacity required to implement effective MCS at a national and regional level in order to provide recommendations for how the SmartFish programme can assist in filling these gaps in MCS capacity. The review focused on seven countries (Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius the Seychelles, Somalia and the United Republic of Tanzania) in order to analysis and benchmark the MCS capacity and to identify gaps - these countries were considered representative of the region in terms of fisheries systems and capacity levels (Chapters 2 to 8). The picture that emerged showed that by country Sey chelles and Mauritius had the strongest capacity for MCS in the region, with Kenya, Madagascar, and the United Republic of Tanzania having partial to weak capacity and the Comoros and Somalia having the weakest capacity.