The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Amadou Jallow
21 October 2008
opinion
In the Gambia, the activities of fishermen and those engaging in fisheries business do experience some changes (both negative and positive) when carrying out their activities. These include the drop down of fish availability, market price and even fishing polices. Changes in the fisheries sector are no much difference with many other economies in the sub-region. The Gambia economy is gradually emerging from a period of slow growth.
These changes are associated with the structural reforms, which were focused trade liberalisation, exchange rate adjustment, fiscal and monetary controls and increased emphasis on private sector involvement in direct production and distribution of goods and services.
The economy's performance is influenced by the price of the Gambia's main exports of groundnut and tourism. The country's economy is not strong and this coupled with low incomes and market constraints, meaning the opportunity to attain a descent quality of life for many in the Gambia is limited. However, poverty reduction becomes the government's main agenda and co-operation.
The fisheries sector contributes a lot to the Gambia's food security, employment and revenue generation, which constitute the basis for development. The government therefore collaborate with various partners in development of artisanal fisheries.
The increasing externalization of the fisheries sector is also largely linked to the trade mechanisms aimed at boosting adjustment context. Such is the cases, for example, the Lome convention, linking Europe and African, Caribbean and pacific countries. The convention concluded in 1982 instituted a customs duties exemption regime applicable to most products. Being covered by this regime, fisheries products become clearly more competitive. Like other African, Caribbean and pacific countries, such as Senegal, the Gambia's fisheries products also benefited from the customs duties, exemption regime of the European market. Between 1988 to 1997, exported volumes of fish rose from 1,068 tons to about 2,063 tons (a 100% increase in one decade).
Therefore, the Lome agreement has immensely contributed to the Gambian fisheries exports. But however, It also created a dependency on the European market. The system of trade performances reinforced the significance of the European market in the absorption of Gambian fisheries exports. Today, Europe remains by far, the main destination for the Gambia's fisheries exports, receiving 1.063 tons out of the 1,330 tons exported in 1999- that is about 80 per cent of the total. Markets in the sub-region and the rest of Africa received less than 300 tons and the Asian and US markets remain marginal even today.
Trade statistical data collected by the Gambia's fisheries department's statistic unit for 2003 indicated the same trend, for example out of 286.6 tons of fisheries products exported, 245.6 tons (86%) went to European markets. The fisheries products destined for European markets comprise almost exclusively of the fresh frozen fish, cephalopods and crustaceans (mainly shrimps). While primarily smoked and dried fish including dried shark meat are sent to African countries.
Now, the new Lome convention will erode or eliminate those advantages because it provide for phasing out of African, Caribbean and Spacific countries trade advantages. Moreover, the process towards custom tariff reduction initiated under the aegis of the World trade Organisation (WTO) could speed up erosion o those advantages.
And, trade liberalisation could also pose a threat to the Gambia's export of fisheries products, considering that these exports are destined almost exclusively to the European markets.
In both the artisanal and industrial sectors, domestic fish supply in general is showing a downward trend, both in terms of volume and catch-per-unit.
The theoretical assumption for the general decline is thought to be poor resource management, increased competition (so many uneconomical canoes), rising input costs, such as fuel and ice block and the depletion of resources as well as loss of biodiversity and habitat destruction and pollution. Coastal erosion due to sand mining and acquisition of beaches and land for tourism developments has contributing threats to the stability of coastal communities. These have lead to a decline in the income of the artisanal fishermen as a result of increased cost of fishing materials and inputs.
The reasons for the general decline, according to the UNDP 2001 research result are said to be poor resource management, increased competition, rising input costs, the depletion of resources and the loss of bio-diversity and habitat destruction and pollution.
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