By Modou Kanteh
The Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries Water Resources and National Assembly Matters recently convened a two-day interagency workshop for national administrators in The Gambia.
Held at Senegambia Beach Hotel, the workshop aimed to streamline administrators’ competence through memorandum of understanding (MoU) on inter-agency cooperation.
Speaking at the forum, Omar SM Gibba, Permanent Secretary at MoFWR-NAMs, affirmed that the workshop was about monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) cooperation among national administrators in The Gambia. This, he said is also in a bid to take the responsibility of enforcing the Fisheries Act and regulations under the Department of Fisheries.
Mr Gibba pointed out that inter-agency collaboration is recognised as a key driving force of development and that the workshop was appropriate to strengthening collaboration among key stakeholders.
Momodou Sidibeh, Deputy Director, Department of Fisheries, said the Ministry of Fisheries is determined to ensure that the national marine resources are utilised sustainably to generate employment opportunities, provide income and contribute to poverty alleviation. Fishing, he said, is an important economic activity that provides food and livelihood to thousands of Gambians directly and indirectly.
Mr Sibibeh further noted that the coordination is to reduce negative externalities and maximise sustainable and exclusive growth for the population of West Africa. He said the support clearly reflects strong hope that European Fisheries Control Agency(EFCA) will continue to add value to improve the capacity of MCS institutions to fight against illegal and unreported fishing.
Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission, Dr. Malal Sane said during the two days, experts from EFCA and the national MCS unit would take stock of legal, institutional and operational framework in the fight against IUU fishing in The Gambia.
