By Modou Kanteh & Maimuna Jarjou
Russia has expressed interest to invest in fishing in The Gambian waters as well as in the aquaculture industry. This interest was made known to officials from the Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters (MoFWR-NAMs) who attended the Global Fishery and Sea Food Expo held in the city of Stpertersburge, Russia from 21-23 September 2022.
In an exclusive interview with the Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries, Mrs. Fanta Samateh Bojang-Manneh said the Russian head of fisheries had reminded The Gambian officials about a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Russian had shared with Gambia few years ago in the area of fishing collaboration.
DPS Manneh said The Gambian delegation will sit and closely look at the MoU and seek advice from the Ministry of Justice. She noted that the Ministry and the Department endeavors to create a center of attention for investment, improve aquaculture for sustainable fisheries in the country .
“This will create employment and increase government revenue and foreign exchange,” the DPS said.
She stated that the Ministry and the Department are also looking at the possibilities of encouraging Public Private Partnership as is the case in other countries that succeeded both in catch and aquaculture fishing.She pointed out that the construction of key landing sites and the fishing jetty would be a priority in order to attract more and bigger fishing vessels to The Gambia.
The fisheries DPS said improving aquaculture in The Gambia would be inevitably accompanied by modern technology, heavy investment and the required capacity. She said the solution to these challenges lies in investing in integrated planning of coastal and aquatic areas.
She called on fish farmers to reduce water pollution which she said is a challenge that will retard aquaculture management in the foreseeable future.
A sideline meeting was also held between The Gambian delegation and OUGUM Fishing Company, an Aquaculture firm from Turkey.The Gambian delegation shared some of the successes the country registered in the area of fishing with OUGUM Fishing Company officials. The Turkish company officials requested proposal detailing data and different species that can be cultured in The Gambia, the climate suitability for different species and suitability of an aquaculture firm in The Gambia.
