Report on Artisanal Fishing Training 1

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Report on Artisanal Fishing Training

in the Peninsula area of Freetown

September 2009

By

Antonia Caramba-Coker

UNIDO

United Nations Industrial Development Organisation

A fisherman from Sierra Leone hauling in a net full ofbonga

Photo: Romain Le BleisPche et Dveloppement


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Fishing Background in Sierra Leone

The traditional fishing sector contributes in a crucial way to humannutrition and to social and economic progress. Fishing and agriculture

provide 6% of the total protein and 16% of the total animal proteinannually consumed by humanity as a whole.Worldwide, the fishing sector indirectly gives employment to 50 millionpeople in services, transformation, transport and commercialisation.

Along its coastline of 570 km and the continental shelf area of 25,600square kilometres, Sierra Leone is rich in marine resources. It is also wellendowed with inland waters (rivers, lakes, and flood plains), which supporta large number of aquatic organisms. The marine waters are fishinggrounds for a wide variety of fish, including high value species such asshrimps, lobsters, cuttlefish, breams, and snappers. The rivers, estuaries,and tributaries with their extensive mangrove vegetation providefavourable conditions of shelter and nursery for penaeid shrimp and fishsuch as bonga, croakers, and wild oysters.

Fish provides an important source of animal protein for most people inSierra Leone. Over the years Sierra Leone fishing industry makes up thetraditional canoes and modern trawlers.In the villages, however, canoe fishing is still of great importance andaccounts for over half of the marine catch nationally. This industrycreates a source of food, source of income for these communities andbeyond.Canoe fishing is done only by men, and fish processing (smoking) isexclusively the domain of women.

Fishing is a vital source of income for the Sierra Leonean men and women

around 30, 000 artisanal fishers and 200,000 ancillary workers areengaged in traditional fish capture, and fisheries represents around 10% ofGDP. Fish is also a crucial component of food security, contributing 80% ofthe total animal protein to the country.

It has been estimated that foreign illegal fishing vessels are stealingaround USD29million of fish from Sierra Leone each year; in sub-SaharanAfrica as a whole, the total value of illegal fish is approximatelyUS$1billion. In recent years foreign fishing vessels have multiplied,

taking advantage of the lack of capacity of the Sierra Leone governmentto monitor and control their coastal waters.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that 80% of theworlds fish stocks are fully or overexploited. The high demand forseafood in Europe is driving the theft and potential collapse of fisheries


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resources. It has been estimated that IUU (Illegal, Unreported andUnregulated) fishing, also known as pirate fishing, accounts for 10 23.5billion US dollars a year worldwide, representing between 11 and 26

million tons of fish a year. Scientists believe that at current rates offishing by the year 2048 the world will run out of commercial fish stocks.

Why Training and Empowerment

In light of the above, UNIDOs EDIP project Enterprise Developmentand Investment Programme has identified groups within the communities

of the Peninsula (Tombo, Lakka, Goderich ,Murray Town and Lungi)to equipthem with relevant business knowledge and post harvest skills.

The objectives are: Post fishing competencies-preservation, reducing post harvest

losses etc Comprehending the importance of marketing Equipping the fisherwomen with new and effective ways of

marketing their products.

Financial skills- managing profit and maintaining records Understand the meaning and importance of business plan Acquaint themselves with key components of business plan Be able to develop a business plan to facilitate funding

From the many reports and articles written on the fishing industry inSierra Leone, the potential in the industry is not fully exploited and mostof the income does not come to Sierra Leone.

As already pointed out above, when assessing the needs of thesefishermen, the main challenges identified were capital andexpertise/skills.Capital is needed to buy or build better boats to enable the fishermen togo out further into the richer fishing grounds like the commercialtrawlers.The technical expertise to handle the gears, better skills in planning,bookkeeping and marketing.


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Challenges and constraints

The sector faces a future full of challenges. Such challenges include:

Declining fish resources Rising fuel prices Poaching of the seas by industrial trawlers Low prices paid for our fish and sold to the European markets

These challenges has been further analysed in the form of a PESTLEAnalysis overview as aired by the participants during the training.


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Political

Unfavourable government policies,

such as the banning of the use of the

larger fishing net (traditionally used

by most fishermen), when the

recommended smaller type is not

readily available to them;

Lack of government commitment to

boost fishing activities. The ministry is

not doing much to improve fishing

activities much paper work with little

action;

Authorities in the Ministry of Marine

Resources are not in close contact with

fishermen on the ground. It then

becomes difficult for them to

understand the problems they (the

fishermen) face;

Low incentives to boost export of

fishing products. The export sector is

yet to be revived since the war all

that is produced is for the local

market;

Union activities are not properly co-

ordinated for the benefit of everyone

IEZ exclusion zones are not being

manned properly and therefore illegal

fishing continues to rise

Economical

Stakeholders in the fishing

business lack economic resources

(input/capital) to ensure full

exploitation of fishing product. No

money to buy fishing equipment,

processing equipment some do not

have iceboxes for icing of the fish;

The general economic situation in

the country is not such that

favours large scale operations in

the fishing industry. Low levels of

employment result to low earnings

and thus low purchasing power of

fishing products;

Absence of a ready local market

for fishing products;

Limited loan schemes to boost the

fishing industry;

High cost of fishing and processing

equipment machines, iceboxes,

etc; Smoking of fish is done the

traditional way using wood and

Banda (smoking iron) this badly

affects the quality of the smoked

fish, which at the end is not

competitive in the world market;

Lack of resources to acquire

standard packaging material

traditionally fishes are kept in

cartoons, baskets, boxes, which are

not free from cockroaches, flies,

and other pests;

Overall, our fish products are not

considered very safe for

consumption in the world market

hence EU ban.


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Social

High illiteracy rates among

fishermen and other individuals

and groups involved in fishing

activities, including those who do

the processing job. No proper

control of operations (by tracking

expenditure against revenue), to

secure loans etc

Social practice of giving gifts.

Money meant for business

operations is used to render

assistance to friends, support

family members, without fully

accounting for such money,

whether they make a profit or not

etc

The habit of saving money in thebank is less developed among them.

There is ready access to financial

resources in their disposal (usually

kept under the pillow or bed)

hence there is often no check on

spending; Overall, money spent is

not properly accounted for; Skilled personnel are not employed

to help boost operations, as a

result there is no efficient

management know-how;

Technology

Lack of access to state-of-the-art

vessels. Traditional fishing vessels

are not enough to make a good

catch. These traditional vessels can

only support a sizeable catch;

No access to improved equipment

for fish processing the Banda is

the one widely used in smoking fish;

Poor communication. Information on

where to make a good catch is not

readily available to fishermen as

they have no equipment to survey

fishing areas. Whilst some are

lucky enough to have a good catch

sometimes, others will always

return with a relatively small catch;

Packaging technologies are not well

developed;

State-of-the-art processing

facilities are not available;

Transportation problems no

trucks with cooling systems to

preserve the raw fish from the

fishing spot to the market;


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Legal

Most fishing businesses are not

registered and this makes it

difficult for government and other

donors to regulate their activities;

No established contracts between

fishermen, those who do

processing, and marketers. No

receipts given and this is an

indication of poor management

practices;

Sizeof fish is getting smaller and smaller

Environmental

Fishing environment is not always

conducive (safety problems) for

fishing operations. The job is

carried out under relatively

dangerous conditions (use of open

boats/planked boats). Sometimes

you have high tide and this is a

problem for those with small make-

shift boats;

Processing areas are not healthy

enough. Often processing of fish is

done on the sea shore (wharf area)

which is also sometimes used as a

waste disposal zone. At times the

fishes are not properly cleaned

scales not properly removed,

contain sand. This cripples the

fishing industry.

Deforestation of our trees

Smoke inhalation by smoking fish

causing serious health problems to

the women

Woman preparing fish for sale in Lumley market


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The above analysis depicts that these artisanal fishermen and women

have many constraints that have continued to prevent them from

improving their operations. Such constraints can be summarised as

follows:

Technical training as well as business skills that wouldimprove their fishing methodologies and post-catch activities;

Credit opportunities to enable them to acquire improvedpost-harvest equipment, expand their operations; and

Proper infrastructure and social conditions to manage andprocess their catch.

Tombo fishing village- Woman drying fish


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The Way Forward- Sustainability Measures

1) Post harvest Methods - Post harvest activities within the artisanalfishing communities as already identified are poor and undeveloped. Thisis due to the lack of preservative equipment such as cold storage/rooms,

Blasts freezers and ice).Most of the catches are sold fresh at fishingsites upon landing either directly to consumers or to fishmongers otherwise they will get spoilt before the day is over.

Fresh preservation by freezing or icing is normally not carried out as it isdone by the industrial trawlers. The following methods are carried out ifall the fish are not sold:

Sun drying;

Salting; and

Smoking.

Smoking however has environmental and social issues such asdeforestation of trees; inhalation of smoke on a constant basis affectsthe long term health of the women. Since fishing is the main source andcheapest protein for Sierra Leoneans there is a need to improve thepreservation and post-harvest conditions that will stabilize the foodsecurity situation and increase the livelihoods of the people.

Solutions

a) Ice boxes - encourage the use of ice boxes or insulated containers.Some of the participants I trained did not use these containers which

will help in preservation of the fishes.b) Ice - was also another issue for them .Electricity is a major

problem in Sierra Leone but with the onset of Bumbuna Hydro bythe end of this year, this will be an opportunity within the fishingcommunity to set up as a business on a small scale (freezer andproducing ice). On a larger scale, more ice plants can be set up tocater for these communities.

Using insulated fish containers and training people on their design andconstruction has enabled many countries to increase fishing trip duration,while keeping fish iced for a longer period of time. For instance,nowadays, many West African countries send by air to Europe fresh fishcaught using pirogues equipped with insulated containers. Likewise, manycountries have extended the concept of insulated containers to thedistribution system. Some use local insulating materials such as coconut


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fibre, sawdust or rice husks for building containers transported onbicycles or mules.

C) Processing - FAO programmes have also aimed to improve handlingpractices, especially in small-scale fish landing sites, and fishpreservation methods such as smoking, drying and salting. In this respect,

FAO was able to adapt and ameliorate drastically the traditional fishcuring methods used in many developing countries. For instance, atraditional fish smoking oven from Ghana, called the Chorkor, wasadapted and re-designed to improve fuel efficiency, working conditions ofthe women who smoke fish and the quality of the finished product. TheChorkor oven is now widely used in many other Africans countries. Overthe last 10 years, many NGOs have taken an active role in disseminatingthese appropriate technologies in developing countries.

The Chorkor fish smoking technique has been proven to be more efficient in terms of cost and energyutilization than the other designs used in West Africa. This technique was developed in 1970 with the help of aFAO project in Chorkor, a small coastal village on the outskirts of Accra, the capital of Ghana. It grew out ofthe traditional cylindrical oven made from compacted clay, used for the smoking of sardinella. The cylindricalform was modified into a rectangular oven, which was further developed into the now famous Chorkor oven.This oven has mud, cement, and red-brick walls with stoke holes for fuel wood inlet and fire control. (FAOReport)


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d)Introduction of solar dryers to dry fish during the rains.

Fish processors should have easy access to credit and low-interestloans. Such access is particularly critical for women who often make

up a majority of the fish smokers in communities throughout westernAfrica. From speaking to banks I found out that they oftenprefer to lend money to groups (risk issues) a practice that couldimpede the ability of individual women to obtain the capital they need topurchase these equipments or expand their businesses.

In addition fish processors should be able to visit one country toanother within the region to familiarise themselves with the newtechnologies and to receive the necessary training to ensure that

equipment is operated efficiently. Countries such as Gambia, Senegal andGhana are at a higher level than Sierra Leone in terms of betterequipment, preservation and handling expertise form which our fishingpeople can learn from.

2) Marketing Channels- there is a lack of proper depots built around thecountry with preservation facilities to handle the processing and sales offish. At present the World Bank and ADB (African Development Bank) areconstructing depots with landing jetties, cold storage and processing

facilities etc at Tombo, Goderich,Shenge and Bonthe villages in Freetownand the South of Sierra Leone - four of the largest fishing villages Thereare further plans to construct centres in Konakridee. These channels ifproperly organised with marketing structures will eventually lead tointernational/export marketing channels. I am not fully conversant of theGovernment and donors plans but more depots will need to be constructedaround the country for the impact to be effected.

From my observation and talking to the participants, the main marketing

channel consists of just walking and selling around town, at markets,restaurants or carrying on the head. Despite its strenuous demand thismarket has been identified as the bigger market and revenue valued.

3) Marketing Associations I am not aware of any big marketingassociation for fishing groups. From my interaction with the participantsthey could not identify any either. There are however smaller individual


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fish mongering groups or cooperatives operating within fishingcommunities and markets under marketing corporations that could betransformed into associations;

These groups have some marketing skills and only need funding andthe infrastructures to motivate them and improve their livlihoods;

The union which could be classed in the category above is notefficient enough to advocate for these communities.

Active participation of small-scale fishing communities in the planningand formulation of development activities should be encouraged so as

to ensure their successful implementation. These could be achieved under

the associations.These development programmes should also recognise that women playoften an important role in fishing communities, both in trading andprocessing, and provision should be made for enhancing that role asthis is not being enhanced at present.

4) Aquaculture/Fish Farming-The sustainable development of Africasnatural resources is today increasingly linked to human security. As wehave seen, food security is the foundation for human security in theregion and as such, it has become an imperative for investments in naturalresources such as fisheries. This is particularly true in the fisheries andaquaculture sector in our region, where the majority of the populationdepends on fish-based resources for their daily sustenance.

Unlike in Asia where the tradition of farming fish dates back thousandsof years, it is only in the last few years that the development ofaquaculture as a source of income and food has begun to be exploited inWest Africa. Sierra Leone and West Africa as a whole offers anattractive investment destination for aquaculture because of its richcoastal ecosystem and inland rivers. We have high value market speciessuch as shrimps and catfish. Previously, attempts have been made insetting up these fish farming but they have not yielded many results. Thegovernment is planning on transforming the aquaculture in Bo into atraining centre for aquaculture farming.

Aquaculture is concentrated in the South (mainly Bo), in the North

(mainly Tonkolili and little in Bombali) and in the East (Kailuhun, Kenemaand Kono)The rationale behind aquaculture development is to makeavailable good quality fresh fish that will provide affordable fish proteinto the poor and our fast growing population. This will also reduce thepressure on capture marine environments.


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Aquaculture is largely a subsistence activity that provides much-neededprotein to significantly large numbers of rural households and constitutesan important component in the food basket. Although its contribution tofood security and sustainable livelihoods is currently undermined by itsrestriction in terms of distribution and pond size, the practice has vast

potential in Sierra Leone.

Conclusions

From the above analysis, I have tried to capture the sector as it is todayand also gaining a perspective into the communities and the constraintsand challenges they face. There are various factors that affect theartisanal fishing folks apart from illegal fishing;the rising costs ofequipment and fuel are equally prohibitive. As artisanal fishers are forcedto travel to more distant fishing grounds, many are motorising theircanoes at a time of rising fuel prices. The increasing price of electricityalso has an impact on the price of ice that some operators use to store

their catch while at sea.On land, deforestation means that the wood that has long been used tobuild traditional canoes is becoming scarce and more expensive. Somefishermen have resorted to imported fibreglass canoes, which last longer,

but the initial investment and maintenancecosts are higher. Deforestation is alsoaffecting the processing of fish (smoking)All of these factors are affecting theprofitability of many family businesses as

well as threatening the food security ofentire communities and their livelihoods.

NO 2 BEACH


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REFERENCES

Sierra Leone DTIS Paper

FAO Reports: Aquaculture

Fishing country sector papers

Fishing for alternatives FAO A Jallow Sustainable fishing livelihood Programme-Isaac D Flowers

Dirty Fish EJ Foundation.org

OECD Paper on Aquaculture in West Africa

Pictures: BBC World Service by Hassan Arouni

Personal views from participants around the Freetown Peninsula

fishing communities

Allafrica.com

Documents

Report on Artisanal Fishing Training 1