April 15, 2016 By Patrick Jaiah Kamara
The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources has announced it would crackdown on fishermen who are in the habit of still using monofilament fishing nets, which has long been declared a ‘bad fishing method’ in the country.
The ministry banned the monofilament fishing nets in 2010, which it regards as a destructive fishing practice because they have minute mesh size that captures young species.
At the weekly press conference organised by the Ministry of Information and Communication at Youyi Building in Freetown, yesterday, Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Charles S. Rogers said his ministry was prepared to take tough action against fishermen that are still using banned monofilament fishing net.
The deputy minister was reacting to a question posed by Concord Times on what the ministry intends doing with fishermen who still use the monofilament nets.
“We have not been able to completely stop fisher folks from using the wrong fishing nets. But we will engage community people to help us reduce the bad fishing method and identify those that are using the monofilament nets. We will ensure that we completely get rid of them as soon as possible,” he said.
He pleaded with all fishermen to comply with rules and regulations set by the government and commit themselves in using the right fishing net, which is 50 centimetres wide.
Mr. Rogers said the ministry had drawn a demarcation line between industrial and artisanal fishermen, adding that the latter have been warned not to cross what he called the ‘eyes line’, which he said is an internal exclusion zone, some twelve miles off the coast.
He said that because of the reduction in the use of monofilament nets, fishermen who use the right nets now have good catch, adding that during a recent visit to the Aberdeen wharf artisanal fishermen caught huge quantity of fish.
In a recent interview, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Max Konneh told Concord Times that when the monofilament fishing net was banned few years ago the government with support from Japan provided 20% nets for fishermen on a cost recovery basis.
“The reason why we banned the monofilament net is that it does not get rot easily because it is nylon. This makes it possible to stay long in the waters and continue to catch small species of sea animals,” he elucidated and added that plans were underway for the government to distribute fishing nets for 50% fishermen in the country.
But Mr. Rogers maintained the sector faces numerous challenges, including lack of adequate landing sites, limited finance, and few fishing habours, among a host of other challenges.
The deputy minister of fisheries explained that no Sierra Leonean has bought a trawler for industrial fishing purposes, which in his view has a negative impact on the local fishing sector, adding that local fishermen were using wooden boats which can easily wear out and pose huge risk.