By: Musa O Bah
Rockey Khan, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries said about 400,000 people depends on fisheries activities as a source of Livelihood.
She made this remark during the fisheries policy engagement workshop held at a local hotel on Tuesday which assembled different stakeholders aimed at charting a way forward for the fishing industry.
In her statement, Ps Khan said: “It is important to note that the sector is facing a myriad of threats from the degradation of the food web by irresponsible human activities and climate change, the degradation of habitat and overexploitation linked to industrialisation of the small pelagic sector for fishmeal including legal overfishing and illegal fishing.”
She also said the decline in the small pelagic resource threatens the economic livelihoods and food security of millions of people in the Gambia and surrounding countries.
However, she added government has identified the fisheries sector as one of the key sectors that will immensely contribute to the economic diversification of the country.
Ps Khan commended that the ministry for the successful implementation of policies and legislatives which she said will go a long way in straightening collaboration among stakeholders.
“Fisheries sector as enshrined in the National Development Plan to promote a vibrant fisheries and Aquaculture sector through research, sustainable management, and utilization of the fisheries resources that would enhance employment and livelihood opportunities.”
PS Khan told the forum the local artisanal fishing sector is the single most important employer and accounts 80 percent of the reported catch in the Gambia.
“The Ministry of Fisheries has friendly policies to encourage and promote private investment in the sector with the vision to see the actors, particularly women in the artisanal fisheries sector graduating from small-scale primary fishing activities to value addition, processing, and marketing of fish and fisheries products to local and international markets,” she concluded.
