Binta Jaiteh
There have been great concerns over continuous inundation of Sanyang beach with washed off dead fish – and the community people especially those who earn living on the beach calling for help as they said it’s affecting their living.
Beach bar and restaurants owners and staff alleged the issue on a fishing factory which they claimed said it “cannot buy the entire supply of their contracted fishing vessels.”
“The continuous situation of dead fish being washed on shore has greatly affected their business as local tourist industries stating that visitors especially tourists found it uncomfortable to stay and enjoy their booked meal,” one of the beach restaurant owners told The Voice.
Lamin Jawla, proprietor of Rainbow Beach Bar and Restaurant said: “the dead fish on shore is becoming a continuous habit,” and alleged it to the fishing vessels that he said “cannot have all their catches sold to the fishmeal factory but end up dumping them into the ocean.”
He added that business, as a tourist operator, is faced with series of challenges as tourists and other visitors cannot enjoy their booked meal because of the smells of the rotten fish at the beach front.
”This is becoming a permanent situation at the beach and reports of this kind were reported to concern authorities but no positive result from them. We are seriously affected by the washed of dead fish on shore and this I can tell is affecting both the tourism and livelihood of the people. How can we allow the destruction of such a massive washed dead fish on shore as a country, this is unacceptable?” he said.
Buba Sarr, a local fisherman said the establishment of fishmeal factories along the coastal villages has caused series of unregulated fishing activities of fishing vessels which he mentioned sometimes dumped fish into the ocean when the factory refused to purchase its supplies.
”It is very unfair having our local market but with scarcity of fish, though in the past fish used to be the cheapest for people to afford but now left destroying on shore like this,” he said.
The Voice tried to reach the Department of Fisheries and the National Environment Agency NEA for comments, but all efforts proved futile.
