Importance of juvenile fish

The juvenile fish otherwise the small pelagic plays a very important role in the regeneration of the fisheries sector.

Therefore, it is incumbent upon everyone to protect them from any kind of exploitation by both national and foreign fishers. The catch in the juvenile fish has over the years degraded our fisheries resources hence the ones that are supposed to regenerate are not spared. This has prompted the Department of State for Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters to issue a press release, warning against the killing of juvenile fish species through fishing.

However, if we have to rely on the young fish that were supposed to be spared so as to produce offspring for the sustainability of the sector, there is no doubt that we are moving towards the decline of the sector. The fisheries department, over the years, has organised several sensitisation fora for fishermen and retailers on the importance of the juvenile fish, but the massive killing of this category of fish continues to go on.

During a day’s sensitisation forum at the fisheries department in January, the majority of the fishermen blamed the foreign fishermen for negatively exploiting the country’s fisheries resources. The department of state said such practices grossly contravene the laws governing exploitation of fish resources of The Gambia.

However, to check the issue of juvenile fish catch, concrete measures must be taken as to ensure that a "person shall not use for fishing, possess any fishing gear or fishing appliance that has been prohibited under any notice or regulation made under the Fisheries Act”. Also, the monitoring of the country’s territorial waters must be strengthened to bring before the law those found contravening the Act.