The Minister of Fisheries and Water Resources, and also responsible for National Assembly Matters, Mr. James F.P. Gomez, has charged that, ‘now is the time’ for the Gambia to take over its fisheries industry; but he posited “to achieve those potentials, we need to develop certain issues in the industry”.
Speaking at the debriefing session of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Team on Fact-finding mission in the fisheries and Aquaculture sector in The Gambia, recently held at Tamala Beach Hotel, Minister Gomez made it clear that the government, as an actor, could only facilitate but the people on the ground need to do the work.
The Fisheries chief expressed dissatisfaction with the operation of fisheries landing sites in the country, stressing there is a need for them to be developed.
“We want to have a situation where the government can facilitate the involvement of more young people in the fisheries industry and ensure they have start-up capital and/or equipment,” the session heard.
Gomez continued that by all fisheries actors in the country coming together as one, they could make a big difference, as he held that if the fisheries industry is working in any country, it’s because they (actors) have a common agenda.
While admitting the Gambia has not been fully benefiting from its fisheries industry, but Gomez however, reminded them that by working together, ‘they can achieve a lot’.
Dr. Amadou Tall, a member of the ECOWAS Fact-finding Mission Team, in his presentation on their preliminary findings, divulged that 90 percent of fishing vessels legally operating in The Gambia are foreign-owned.
The recommendations he highlighted were for the AfDB funding to be aligned to the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Investment Plans that have regional elements (Technical assistance request to the Director-General responsible for West Africa); aligning technical support (FAO,USAID, IFAD) programmes with Regional Framework; promote greater collaboration with Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) and Abidjan a Convention Projects; as well as linking fisheries to Regional Security-Humanitarian-Development Axis.
The fact-finding mission team concluded by recommending for the establishing a national coordination mechanism; ensuring coherence of fisheries and aquaculture to national development policies; put in place a mechanism for broad-based participatory policy dialogue and fisheries management, particularly the non-state actors; identify policy pathways necessary for effective wealth; put in place pragmatic approaches to fisheries governance and institutional reforms; and institute a process of mutual accountability to reforms and investments in fisheries and aquaculture.
