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Dwindling stocks and profits are driving thousands of young Gambian fishermen out of the industry but the government hopes to lure them back through tighter regulation and greater investment.

“The fishing industry has suffered from years of neglect, and a lack of storage facilities means thousands of tonnes of fish are wasted each year,” Ousman Mass Jobe, an official in the Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and the Environment, told IRIN. “Building a new fish market is part of our approach to breathe new life into the industry. Now is the time to lure lost generations of Gambian youths back.”

Up to 3,000 youths abandoned fishing between 2001 and 2005 the Minister of Fisheries, Water Resources and the Environment Mankuba Touray told reporters in early May.

Many of the youths dream of a life in Europe. “The chance is always there to befriend tourists and with this anything can happen,” said ex-fisherman Abubacar Jammeh, from Brufut, a fishing village outside the capital Banjul. A handful use their boats to smuggle migrants to Europe, charging up to US$1,500 per passenger, said Jammeh.

Young fishermen are leaving the trade partly because consistent underinvestment has caused fish markets to deteriorate, leaving thousands of tonnes (mt) of fish to rot each year, said Jammeh. Fishermen reportedly lose 300mt of sole annually, according to local newspapers.

As a result fishermen say they hardly turn a profit. Paying for boat hire, fuel and ice to preserve fish eats into Jammeh’s average monthly $90 revenues, down from $150 a few years ago.

“Fishing can no longer take care of my needs and those of my family. I can barely take anything substantial from it home. “

Fish stocks have dropped across coastal West Africa. Fishermen told IRIN mass trawlers operating within Gambia’s 12-mile exclusion zone decimate stocks of young fish.

A 2007 Institute for Security Studies report predicted that several African countries will soon face the permanent degradation of their marine environment with potential severe impact on food security and economic development. 

Turnaround?

But the Gambian government is trying to counter the trends, with plans to boost catches to up to 250,000 mt per year in coming years. The volume of the current stock is not known.

Fishing plays a central role in the government’s 2007-11 poverty reduction strategy, alongside agriculture.

The fishing industry brought in 11 percent of Gambia’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006, coming third after farming and livestock, according to the ministry. The livelihoods of over a third of Gambians are linked to fishing, according to the UN.

The Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and the Environment has recently revised the licenses of foreign fishing companies. “Past agreements set the stage for the exploitation and plundering of our water resources. Now the government is being more responsible,” said Mustapha Suso, director of TalaFish, a non-profit that loans fishermen money for equipment. The African Development Bank and the governments of Japan and Taiwan are stepping in to help.

High among the government’s priorities is to improve fish markets so catches can be preserved for export, according to Fisheries Ministry official, Jobe. The Japanese government is investing $1 million to build a new fish market in Brikama, 76km from Banjul, which will have modern refrigeration and storage facilities, a fish-handling yard and an ice-making machine designed to help Gambians export more.

Expected to open in November, the facility is to provide vendors and fishermen training in sanitary storage and marketing of fish, according to Fisheries Ministry official Jobe. Some 17,000 Gambians are expected to benefit. Brikama Chief Dembo Bojan called it a “blessing” for the town.

And the government has set up a micro-credit scheme to help fishermen save enough money to buy better equipment.

Fishermen welcome these moves but say to make a real difference, bigger loans are needed. It costs $4,000 to buy a large pirogue, according to non-profit director Suso. “The government is doing what it can to make the industry attractive again, but they should do more to provide loans to people who want to expand their business.”

And fishermen urge the government to more vigilantly monitor poachers who, despite strict government regulation, continue to deplete stocks within the exclusion zone.

Fisheries Ministry official Jobe told IRIN the government does not have enough people to survey the entire coast as needed but are talking with counterparts in neighbouring Guinea-Bissau and Senegal about combining forces on this front.