By Nasratu Kargbo
Chairperson Parliamentary Committee on Fisheries and Marine Resources, Neneh Lebbie has expressed concern over the increase in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities in Sierra Leonean waters. She said she was reliably informed by the indigenes of Sulima that boats often come from Liberia to fish at night and leave in the morning hours.
MP Lebbie was speaking during the commissioning of two vessels sponsored by World Bank that are to surveillance the waters. “Even when the surveillance boats go out, I don’t want to prejudice their work, but the way they interact, we will not get the effective results we need,” she said.
She pointed out that members of the cartel in the fishing industry are very determined and asked Sierra Leoneans to be patriotic, saying “until we love our country things will never move on”. The MP stated that the most important thing is to make sure that those in charge work effectively to produce results, because according to her, there have not been any results over the years.
She further recommended to the ministry to use drones in monitoring fishing activities in the country.
The Public Relations Officer of Sierra Leone Artisanal Fishers Union , Wudi Baki said his organization has conducted a survey around the coastal communities and observed that the illegal activities in the artisanal sector are posing serious threats, a situation he said if not addressed in the shortest period, will hinder the country’s fishing industry.
In her statement at the launch of the two vessels, the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Emma Kowa Jalloh said Sierra Leone has neighbors and that people have always gone through the back door to access the country’s resources, depriving its citizens of what they should benefit from. However, she said the country has to protect its waters.
She explained that foreign vessels and canoes have to license before they can undertake any activity. She stated that the two boats will be used to monitor other vessels in the country’s waters to ensure they are licensed, or they would be arrested as stated in the Act.
She said one of the vessels will go to Sulima towards the country’s boundary with Liberia and the other will be in the Kambia district towards the boundary with Guinea. She explained that those areas are chosen because they were constrained with surveillance boats and are areas where they need to pay attention to.
The Minister further advised those that will be using the boats to put the country and its resources first, so that every Sierra Leonean can benefit from the resources.
In his keynote address, representing the Chief Minister, Edward Kamara stated that fishing as a sub sector contributes 12% to the GDP and employs over five hundred thousand people.
He noted that the World Bank has supported the ministry with the formation of local area fishing management committees, and the committees have developed fisheries byelaws. He added that the implementation of those byelaws require the use of small boats that can be used in shallow coastal waters.
“In a bid to promote the blue economy and the human capital development to achieve food security, the new direction government will empower artisanal fishermen in the provision of proper patrol boats to help in the enforcement of fisheries byelaws and to curb the menace of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the artisanal fishing sector” said Kamara.
He urged Sierra Leoneans to be patriotic, which he said would make it impossible for Liberians to fish and leave.
The programme ended with the minister and other dignitaries making a brief ride out at sea in one of the boats.
In 2016, the EU slammed Sierra Leone a yellow card as a warning to the country to take action so as not to be listed as a non-cooperating country in the fight against illegal fishing.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (30/07/21)
