By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The European Union Commission has given Sierra Leone a yellow card for its non compliance in fighting Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
According to the Head of European Union Delegation to Sierra Leone, Ambassador Peter Versteeg, the decision was taken to have countries fully respect their international obligations.
“We expect the government of Sierra Leone to engage in dialogue and develop an action plan,” Versteeg said at a press conference in Freetown on Wednesday.
The decision was taken by the EU on April 21 and Sierra Leone has six months to fix the problems of IUU fishing. If it fails to get it right, the country’s fish could be banned all together from markets in Europe and possibly beyond.
This development comes at a crucial time after World Bank announced few months ago that it was set to invest $4 million in to the fishing sector.
World Bank boss Perminder Brar, in the joint press conference alongside the EU representative and United States ambassador John Hoover, urged the Sierra Leone government to find solutions to the current problems in the fishing sector.
Fish is the most affordable and available source of protein for most Sierra Leoneans but there have been concerns surrounding over-fishing in the country’s waters.
Mr Brar blamed this on the number of vessels that are in Sierra Leonean waters and the way fishing is conducted.
“At the moment there are up to 95 fishing vessels in Sierra Leonean waters. The acceptable number is around 30 to 40 vessels,” he told reporters. He related the high amount of fishing vessels to the low license fee Sierra Leone charges.
Sierra Leone charges just 1% of the total vessel value, far below the international standard of between 5% and 8%. Neighboring Liberia earns more than 10% of the total vessel value of industrial trawlers.
Fishing is a lucrative business in Sierra Leone. In a period where mining revenues have taken a nose dive, fishing remains a viable source of income for the country. World Bank figures project that Sierra Leone could sustainably generates as much as US$186 million per year.
Sierra Leone also must manage its fish stock very carefully.
World Bank figures show that up to 100, 000 people are directly employed in the sector and a further 10% of the total population of the country benefits indirectly from the fishing sector. These numbers show that that a great deal of the population depends on fishing as a source of living.
In the past Sierra Leone has had great challenge with logistics to properly monitor and manage trawlers that fish in its waters. The country just recently re-equipped its Joint Monitoring Center (JMC). It has been out of use for the last three years, with essentials like electricity and internet connection cut out.
JMC is a command center that has satellites which are hooked on the internet and can broadcast live feeds from the waters. When operational it allows the navy and other marine security authorities to track the vessels on the sea and monitor their activities.
“The fisheries management system needs to be effective and operational to prevent over fishing and depletion of the marine resources,” John Hoover, US Ambassador to Sierra Leone.
Like every other country, Sierra Leone has a six mile Inshore Exclusive Zone (IEZ) within which vessels are not allowed to fish. But because of lack of monitoring, fighing communities have in the past reported incursion of trawlers into the IEZ.
Going forward, the World Bank boss suggested, the private sector must be involved if the country can harvest the maximum from the sector.
However, he warned that important steps must be taken if the private sector could be attracted to come on board.
“A sound legal frame work and a sustainable resource is the bedrock of encouraging private investment in the fishery sector of the country,” Brar said.
According to World Bank, fishing accounts for 10% of Sierra Leone’s GDP. Thorough investment and regulations could quadruple that percentage. Such increase could help the struggling economy of the country.
(C) Politico 19/05/16
