The Gambia’s Minister of Fisheries, Mr. James F. Gomez has disclosed to the National Assembly Members that, a total of 14,000 artisanal operatives are engaged in fish drying, smoking, marketing, and distribution of fish. Gomez, who was summoned to appear before the Legislative House on Monday 28th June 2021, delivered a Ministerial statement providing updates on the status of fish in the Gambia.
He informed the lawmakers that a total of 12 fish-processing establishments and three fish mill plants were established, and that industrial fishing had created employment for 2,809 Gambian youth, of which 2,124 are deckhands and 685 as fisheries observers during the period.
“A total of 37 aquaculture ponds and 17 oyster harvesting and processing sites are operating,” the minister reported, as he also explained that the fisheries sector is divided into three sub-sectors, namely industrial, artisanal and aquaculture.
The Assembly further heard that a total of 186 fish landing sites operate in small-scale artisanal fisheries sub-sector and of which, 10 are allocated within the Atlantic coast, and over 14,000 artisanal operatives are engaged in fish drying.
This number, Gomez pointed out, didn’t include the young women and youth involved in loading and unloading fish from the boats; saying similarly, a combined total of 4,234 fishermen are operating in the sub sector.
“Fisheries [sector] contributes 12 percent to GDP, and the livelihoods of well over 200,000 Gambians are critically dependent on it and its related activities. It is the third largest sector after agriculture and tourism in the country,” he stated.
However, the Fisheries Ministry chief lamented that the fisheries sector is faced with constraints inter alia, ecological, biological, technical, managerial and industrial, as well as high cost of energy, high interest rates. He admitted these constraints are limiting the sector’s contribution to food security, poverty eradication and overall economic development.
Dilating on the recent fish saga that went viral on social media, Gomez explained that on the 18th June 2021, there was a bumper harvest of Sardinella fondly called Yaboye at Tanji landing site, and as such, the fish could not all be sold by the women fish processors, other middlemen, including those using refrigerated trucks for marketing and distributing in up country.
“The remaining fish could not be preserved due to lack of adequate ice because of electricity outage. This has resulted in spoilage. This situation happened only at Tanji Fish Landing site, contrary to other reports and is highly regrettable as it was beyond control,” he told the National Assembly Members (NAM).
He also informed the lawmakers that the total of Four hundred and sixty one million, six hundred and twenty one thousand and twenty-two dalasi and one butut (461,621,022.01) was generated from 2017 to date.
The Fisheries Ministry boss gave a breakdown of the total revenue generated by the Fisheries sector as follows: Revenue from fishing license amounts to D141,370,412.59; revenue from 10 percent from fish landing is D209,121,472.25; revenue from arrested vessels-D31,760,000; and revenue from the Senegalo-Gambian Agreement D7,539,738.01.
Minister Gomez said the total revenue generated from the EU-Gambia SFPA amounts to D71, 829,399.16.
