FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda)
Pateh Baldeh
30 June 2009
A two days stake holder's workshop and launching of the Gambia-Senegal Sustainable Fisheries Project "BaNafaa" was recently held at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.
The objective of the workshop is to identify priority artisanal fisheries issues and opportunities for the "BaNafaa" project and to develop a common vision of what the "BaNafaa" project should achieve over the next 5 years. In Senegal, the project is called "Wula Nafaa".
Speaking at the opening ceremony, on behalf of the Minister of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters, Mr. Amadou Saine, Deputy Permanent Secretary, said the fisheries sector plays an important role in producing cheap animal proteins, employment and foreign exchange earnings in our sub-region, particularly in the two countries that are to benefit from implementation of the programme.
Mr. Saine said in The Gambia the fisheries sector contributes an estimated 4 percent to our GDP and that over 200,000 people are directly or indirectly engaged in fisheries.
The sector, he said, provides employment and income to the vulnerable groups (the women and youths) and that this is the reason why the government of the Gambia has accorded high priority to the conservation and management of our marine fisheries resources, and other aquatic resources.
DPS Saine also touched on some major problems such as the depleting fish stock due to illegal fishing, threats of unsustainable resources use, the threats of human made damages to the aquatic environment and the high rate of degradation of our coastal environment and loss of coastal habitats which are trans-boundary in character etc.
He called on the fisher folks to be empowered to insist and take up more responsibility for the sustainability of the resources upon which they depend.
The Fisheries DPS finally called for strong challenges which, he said, requires genuine cooperation among and between coastal countries at the bilateral and multilateral levels as well as the support of development partners.
Other speakers at workshop included Katty Castro, University of Rhode Island Fisheries, and Mr. Mat Dia, World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and was chaired by Mr. Ebou Mbye of the Department of Fisheries. The Project is sponsored by USAID.
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