Industrial fishery at sea
In 1966, a 300 HP experimental trawler operated by Cotonnec (a fishing company) caught 25 t (average catch rate 120 kg/set of 2.5 h by day or 4 h by night) (anonymous report). This vessel landed 18 t during the first half of 1967. The favourable muddy grounds are all located in the northern part of the continental shelf, where the network of estuaries is well developed. The best catches are obtained between 20 and 40 m, from May to August.
In 1968, catches were about 100 t per two shrimp trawlers. The industrial fishery actually started in 1969. Eight of the 33 Douala-based shrimp boats were refrigerated. In 1971, thirteen 24 m shrimp trawlers were engaged in the fishery, of which ten were commissioned by CRECAM and three by SIPEC (Talarczak, 1977).
The Cameroonian shrimp fishery suffered very much in 1972 from the closure of Nigerian waters. As a matter of fact, the fishing season lasts only four months in Cameroon and shrimp trawlers worked in Nigeria for the rest of the year (Pease and Folson, 1974). An agreement was signed since then between the two countries but Nigeria imposed a limitation of the number of boats on Cameroon. In 1974, 9 out of the 17 active shrimp trawlers were freezer boats.
Everett (1977) pointed out that 20 percent of the catches consisted of P. atlantica and P. longirostris.
CRECAM was the only shrimp fishing company during 1977. Its fleet consisted of seventeen 23-25 m and 185-190 t shrimp trawlers with double rigged (“Gulf” type) trawls. Each boat fished 300 days a year on an average. Only the tails were kept in ice. Sixty-seven percent of the production was exported to Japan, 20 to 25 percent to the USA, the rest to Europe.
Artisanal fishery in lagoons
No information is available on this fishery.
Table 8.1
CAMEROON: STATISTICS AVAILABLE ON SHRIMP FISHERY AT SEA
|
Year |
Catch (tons, heads-on shrimps |
Fleet (number of boats) |
Average power (HP) |
CPUE |
|
|
t/boat/year (heads-on shrimps) |
kg/boat/day heads-on shrimps) |
||||
|
1966 |
25 |
1 |
150 |
25,0 |
|
|
1967 |
50 |
1 |
150 |
50,0 |
|
|
1968 |
100 |
2 |
350 à 400 |
50,0 |
|
|
1969 |
257 |
2 à 8 |
350 à 400 |
42,8 |
|
|
1970 |
295 |
10 |
350 à 400 |
29,5 |
260 |
|
1971 |
859 |
10 |
350 à 400 |
85,9 |
379 |
|
1972 |
1 018 |
10 |
350 à 400 |
101,8 |
398 |
|
1973 |
972 |
13 |
350 à 400 |
74,8 |
342i |
|
1974 |
1 114 |
17 |
350 à 400 |
65,5 |
291 |
|
1975 |
1 001 |
17 |
350 à 400 |
58,9 |
267 |
|
1976 |
882 |
17 |
350 à 400 |
51,9 |
222 |
|
1977 |
831 |
17 |
350 à 400 |
48,9 |
186 1/ |
1/ Value extrapolated from the first 10 months.
