The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources has yesterday, 1st April, 2019, commenced what they described as CLOSE SESSION for the rest of the month.
The CLOSE SESSION, a Ministry Press release states, will involve the banning of all industrial fishing by industrial vessels activities between the 1st to the 30th April, 2019. The release also informs that the following activities will be pursued: fish from local fishing activities should not be sold outside Sierra Leone; bigger vessels will not be allowed to fish; they should stock all reserve fish in their cold rooms across the country and provide government with statistics of that stock, etc.
Former President of the Industrial Fishing Association, Mr. Kamara, has noted the necessity of having a close session as it is being done in other countries across the sub region.
The Close Session, he continued, provides an opportunity for fishes to be able to breed across the 200 nautical miles of the country’s territorial waters.
The former President stated that there is a lot of activities across the waters of Sierra Leone by both local and industrial vessels and the breeding of fishes is being seriously affected. Hence the move by the Ministry to commence a close session is in the right direction especially so when the period between March and May is the breeding period for fishes.
The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources say the move is in close consultation with the Artisanal Fishermen Consortium, Industrial Fishing Association and other stakeholders in the sector and it is done pursuant to the country’s Fisheries Act and it is an international best practice.
Many say the move, which is being done after over two decades, will lead to fish crisis in the country largely due to the fact that people will hoard the fish as well as smuggle it out of the country.
The Ministry, many say, does not have the capacity to monitor attempts to smuggle and export fish outside the country during this period.