Protection of marine resources plays an important role in any country's economy and in ensuring food security.
When our territorial waters are protected and secured, that in a nutshell would ensure prosperity and for people to have hope for a better, healthier and more resilient future.
Therefore, marine resources constitute a significant portion of our daily lives. However, experts revealed that one out of two of Gambia's fish stocks is overfished, thus recommending mitigating measures to avert the looming threat.
Overfishing is a challenge many developing countries are grappling with and the Gambia is not an exception. This is exacerbated by lack of regulations, management, enforcement, monitoring to control our waters.
This has resulted in many countries losing a significant amount of their revenue to pirates and other syndicates that continue to exploit our waters for their own good.
Stakeholders in the Fisheries sector recently concluded a four-day data collection training. The forum was aimed at updating the Reference List for Area 34 and introducing a new assessment methodology.
At the forum it was revealed by experts that fish resources contribute 12% to The Gambia's economy and that over 300,000 Gambians depend on fishing as a means of livelihood. This is indeed a concern looking at the number of people who directly benefit from this sector.
Overfishing has negative implications on the growth of local economies. In West Africa this menace is on the rise and there are regulations in place to tackle this growing phenomenon.
For years, overfishing has increasingly threatened the world's marine ecosystems. To tackle this menace, senior governments have to take their rightful positions and be actively involved in the day-to-day affairs of their territorial waters. Until then, this growing phenomenon will continue to be a challenge hindering our local economies.
Meanwhile, The United Nations has set a goal under the Sustainable Development Goals to end overfishing by 2030. However, this goal is far from over as 50 percent of the fish stock in countries within the CECAF so far, is overfished according to preliminary results.
