On a stretch of coastline where fish is as essential as rice, fishermen, traders and activists gathered on Sunday with a simple demand: enforce a rule that already exists.
The law is clear. Industrial trawlers are banned from operating within nine nautical miles of The Gambia's shore, which is a zone reserved for small-scale, or artisanal, fishers. But along this coast, many say the rule is ignored so often that it has begun to feel meaningless.
"The main goal of organising this dialogue is to see how we can exclude industrial fishing from the economic zone, that is, the nine nautical miles that Gambia has designated for artisanal fishing," said Keba Jabang, lead project coordinator of the Sanyang Youth for Environmental Protection and Development.
The meeting, held on April 12, brought together local fishermen and fishmongers with environmental groups, including the Gunjur Conservation and Ecotourism Association, African Fish and Wildlife Conservation and Blue Ventures. Their message was urgent: without enforcement, fish stocks are falling, and so is a critical source of food.
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Participants described a pattern they say has gone on for years. Industrial vessels, many of them foreign-owned, enter protected waters, sometimes as close as five miles from shore. Nets are cut. Young fish are scooped up before they can grow. And those who depend on the sea are left with less each day.
"The laws exist, but the capacity and will to enforce them effectively is lacking," one fisheries official acknowledged at a separate training event organised by the same coalition.
At Sunday's gathering, frustration was clear. Many said they had petitioned the Ministry of Fisheries before, with little result.
"We do realise that there have been a lot of documents that have been sent to the Ministry of Fisheries and Department, but there has not been an improvement," Mr. Jabang said. "So now we want to use a different approach. We want to use the National Assembly Select Committee on Environment, so that they can address this issue. Because we believe that when this document gets to the national level, the entire Gambia will know about it."
The coalition now plans to take its case directly to lawmakers, hoping public debate will force action.
For many here, the issue is not only about livelihoods -- it is about survival.
"People forget about one thing: the artisanal fishermen are the main food providers to the nation," Mr. Jabang said. "Because you know, meat is very expensive, so people rely on fish. I would say 80% of the people rely on fish. So, if fish is expensive, people will not be able to afford it."
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He added a warning: "When fish is expensive, there will be starvation in the country, and that is something we wouldn't allow."
Across The Gambia, fishermen say their daily catch has dropped sharply in recent years, in some cases by more than 80 per cent compared with past decades. The artisanal fishing sector supports roughly 200,000 people, directly and indirectly, a vast network now under strain.
Women in the industry, many of whom process and sell the fish, say they feel the impact just as deeply.
"If industrial fishing trawlers stop going to that area, we will have a lot of fish because that area is a reserve area where young ones are found. When they let them reach maturity, then fishermen will have fish, we will have fish, and the public at large," said Fatou Piere Choi, president of the National Association of Artisanal Fishing Operators.
Marine experts have long warned that such protected zones act as nurseries, allowing fish populations to recover. When trawlers enter those areas, they disrupt that cycle because they will be catching juvenile fish and damaging the seabed through practices like bottom trawling.
The struggle unfolding in The Gambia mirrors a wider conflict along West Africa's coast, where small-scale fishers compete with large industrial fleets. The region is estimated to lose $3.2 billion each year to illegal fishing. For now, those gathered on Sunday are focused on what comes next. Their proposal to the National Assembly is meant to shift the issue from quiet complaints to a national debate. Whether that will bring change remains uncertain.
