By: Nyima Sillah
The Public Relations Officer of the Gambia Artisanal Fisheries Association, Omar Gaye, has said that the fishing industry is sinking while painting a gloomy picture for the industry’s future.
“Boats are available but people responsible for doing the service have all traveled due to various challenges in the landing sites. If this situation continues, by next year, it will be worse because the industry will be completely dormant,” Gaye told The Voice in an exclusive interview granted yesterday.
He explained that the fishing trawler (Industrial Fishing Vessels) has invaded some of the landing sites, adding that fishing equipment is expensive because the smallest amount to invest on a small boat (artisanal boat) is D500, 000 and later when they go to the river, they can spend almost two years without getting even D100, 000 due to the fishing trawlers in the landing sites.
“If you visit some of the landing sites, you will realize that the number of fishermen has drastically reduced from three hundred to hundred people which are not good for the industry,” he stated.
According to him, the reason why most of the fishermen are traveling is because they invest more, gain less and where they expect to do their fishing properly is already given to other people who utilize it more which make it inaccessible for them.
PRO Gaye opined that the fishing sector has methods and types of fishing but the challenge is that artisanal fishing is suppressed by the industrial fishing vessels making life difficult for people in the artisanal fishing boats.
He referenced from FAO research that artisanal fishing is the common and most financially gaining type of fishing that contributes immensely to the economy, especially in Senegal and the Gambia.
“The reason why they cannot do fishing as they wish is because the fishing trawlers have been signed and given licenses to operate in the Gambia. So, they are operating freely without any control or limitations. They will leave the specific miles given to them and go fishing at the wrong zone. These are the challenges that explain why the artisanal boats are not operating as they wish because if they go there to fish, they destroy their nets,’’ Gaye stated. He added: “If the artisanal boats don’t have access to fishing in their way, it will bring challenges and the prices will continue to hike. Scores of people will not be able to afford fish in a few years,” PRO Gaye asserted.
