Liberian multi-species fisheries are still poorly developed and not fully exploited. The industrial fisheries have expanded more than artisanal fisheries. The fishery administrators should now concern themselves with rationalizing the shelf fishery (for shrimps and sciaenid community) and promoting the appropriate fishing innovations and harvesting of the untapped resources in deeper waters and possibly off the slope. It would appear that increased fishing intensity will result in an increase in catch of those dominant species presently exploited by artisanal and industrial ‘fleets’. But, attention must be focused on control and adjustment of fishing effort (i.e., control the number, type and size of gears used as well as the number and type of fishing vessels). The pelagic species offer the larger potential for expansion and are particularly suited for the local markets.
It is recognized that some progress has been made in the collection of fishery statistics, but there are still a lot of information gaps on landings by artisanal and industrial fishing boats, as well as on by-catch of shrimpers and finfish trawlers. There is a need to update the inventory of all types of canoes, number of fishermen, fishing gears and landing sites along the entire coast of Liberia. Additionally, it is necessary to revise the inventory of all industrial fishing vessels, indicating nationality of vessel, type of boat, horse power, overall length, GRT as well as characteristics of the fishing gear.
Some fish stocks exploited by Liberia are also shared with Sierra Leone and Côte d'Ivoire. It is expected that the fishermen exploiting these species will move following fish migration patterns. In view of this, one needs catch data from various locations along the coast to explain the seasonality of fisheries in the following regions: Grand Cape Mount, Montserrado, Grand Bassa, Sinoe and Maryland.
A series of catch and effort statistics - if continued over a period of years - provides the best measure of changes in a stock of fish and the impact on fishing on it. Collection of comprehensive statistics from artisanal fisheries is not easy, but various methods of statistical survey design exist, which can produce estimates to an acceptable precision at a reasonable cost, and these should continue to be applied and used more often.
Rational management of the fishery resources in the EEZ requires greater control of fisheries. It is necessary that proper fishery legislation and regulations be established and, whenever possible, harmonized with those of adjacent coastal states jointly exploiting the resources. A regional forum is needed to discuss problems connected with the implementation of fishery regulations.
The most obvious set of actions is the control placed on fishing in the new EEZ, especially on foreign fishing and these measures may have direct impact on the inshore fisheries which are of interest to national fishermen. The artisanal and industial fisheries on the shelf share the same stock and the off-shore industrial fisheries can affect inshore catches of artisanal fishermen. Hence, the two types of fisheries must be developed in a coordinated manner, with appropriate regulations in order to reduce damaging competition and ensure the attainment of the overall national objectives.
The artisanal fishermen and owners of industrial fishing vessels should be made aware of the need for their positive involvement in the management of their fisheries. If fishermen cannot understand the importance of a particular regulation, it will be difficult to enforce it. Hence, it might be necessary to hold national seminars to obtain better understanding of justification for fishery regulations and to discuss various fishery management strategies.
The artisanal canoe fishermen interact with trawlers and shrimpers in Liberian waters. It has been reported that sometimes the shrimpers, finfish trawlers and canoes operate on the same species and on the same fishing grounds. In these circumstances, an expanding fleet of industrial vessels will reduce the catches of canoe fishermen. The fisheries manager in Liberia has a difficult balance to establish between opposite goals such as increased total catch by industrial vessels and upgrading the well-being of small-scale fishermen.
Rational fishery management requires considerations of the following fishery restrictions and options: closed areas, closed seasons, use of specified types of gears and mesh size, and effort control. The enforcement of some of these regulations can be impracticable, except at a very high cost if total effort is not controlled. The trawlers and shrimpers should be banned from fishing in the estuaries and shallow inshore waters. The proper limits should be established after careful examination of bioeconomic factors and local fishing conditions and should be easily enforceable.
Fishing intensity affects the density of fish stocks, catch rates of artisanal fishermen and catch rates of industrial fishing vessels. For fish stocks that are still not so heavily fished as those of Liberia, a modest increase in fishing effort will increase the total catches but decrease catch rates of vessels already fishing. If the well-being of existing fishermen and an economically viable industry are a priority fishery policy issue, then entry of additional finfish trawlers must only be allowed with caution.
The results of the Guinean Trawling Survey (GTS) given by Williams (1968) and the results of R/V DR. FRIDTJOF NANSEN reported by Stromme (1983) and FAO (1984) lead to different estimates of biomass and potential yield. Additionally the joint USSR/Liberia fishery investigations reported by ATLANTNIRO (1981) give different estimates of available fish stocks. There is, therefore, disagreement over different assessment works and, this is due to a shaky data base that allows several interpretations. In these circumstances, one should have reservation for over-optimistic statements on production potential based on analysis of limited data. Comparison with the better known adjacent waters of Sierra Leone and Côte d'Ivoire which have higher productivity might not justify such high magnitudes.
The establishment of an EEZ provides an opportunity to control foreign fishing through the increased awareness at high political levels of the importance of rational management of fisheries in the EEZ (from the shoreline out to 200 mi), for the greater benefit of national fishermen. If the decisions taken to apply restrictive measures are to achieve the objectives hoped for, it is essential that those responsible for fishery management have adequate information on distribution and migration of fish stocks, fishing areas, cost of fishing, cost benefit analysis of fishing sectors.
Rational management of fisheries could improve nutritional and economic benefits to Liberia. Whether or not these benefits can be realized in the near future will depend on the fishery administrator's commitment to make the right policy and choose the best objective at the right time, collect the necessary information on various fisheries and involve fishery research scientists as well as fishermen in the decision-making process.
