6.1 General
6.2 Liberia
6.3 Sierra Leone
This chapter will be limited to the description of the Liberian and Sierra Leonean fisheries. Ivorian fishing activities in this area are described in Appendix 7.
Two main fishing grounds are identified on the continental shelf of Liberia:
(i) Cape Mount/Sherbro areaTable 1 Spawning seasons of some demersal species on the continental shelf of Senegal
(ii) area near the border with Ivory Coast
Species |
Period of reproduction |
Hydrographic season |
Galeoides decadactylus |
May-August |
TC, SC, TF |
Pseudupeneus prayensis |
June-August |
TC, SC, TF |
Brachydeuterus auritus |
May-June |
TC, SC, TF |
Seyris alexandrinus |
August-November |
SC, TF |
Pseudotolithus senegalensis |
June-July |
TC, TF |
Pagellus coupei |
April-June |
TC, TF |
Pagrus ehrenbergi |
April-May |
TC, SC, TF |
Pteroscion peli |
April-August |
TC, SC, TF |
Cynoglossus canariensis |
March-May |
TC, SC, TF |
Dentex angolensis |
April-May-June December-January |
TC, TF |
Dentex macropthalmus |
January-February |
SF |
SC: warm seasonIn addition, there is a minor fishing ground in the Bissau area. Trawling for demersal fish species goes on throughout the year.
SF: cold season
TC: transition cold - warm
TF: transition warm - coldSource: La reproduction des espèces exploitées dans le golfe de Guinée; Rapport du Groupe de travail ISRA-ORSTOM; Dakar, 7-12 November 1977: Domain, P. Note sur la reproduction de quelques espèces démersales du plateau continental sénégambien
The main fishing company is the Mesurado Fishing Company. The Continental Sea Foods Incorporated also operates in Liberia under special arrangement with Mesurado Fishing Company. Mesurado currently operates ten shrimpers and two trawlers. Continental Sea Foods operates about fourteen shrimpers. Pour Italian trawlers also operate from Monrovia. Other trawlers operating from Monrovia consist of two trawlers from Angola and also Soviet and Japanese vessels. It was not easy for the group to determine with certainty the fleet size operating from Monrovia, especially the foreign flag vessels. It was equally difficult to determine with certainty where the fish landed by the Angolan, Japanese, Italian and Soviet vessels came from because all the catches are lumped together. It is probable that some of these catches came from the continental shelf of Sierra Leone.
Catch data for vessels operated by Mesurado Fishing Company were presented to the Working Group. The total landings of fish fluctuated between 2 296 and 19 772 tons (Table 2).
Table 2 Annual landings of trawlers in Monrovia
Company |
Landings (metric tons) |
|||||
|
1971 |
1972 |
1973 |
1974 |
1975 |
1976 |
Mesurado Fishing Co. |
1 711 |
4 193 |
70 |
37 |
699 |
1 356 |
Continental Sea Foods |
398 |
2 098 |
1 026 |
80 |
19 073 |
10 020 |
Italian vessels |
169 |
|
|
|
|
|
A.C.F. |
18 |
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
2 296 |
6 291 |
1 096 |
117 |
19 772 |
11 376 |
Source: Bureau of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Monrovia, Liberia
There are two types of boats fishing demersal species in Sierra Leone: the canoe and the trawl sectors. According to information presented to the Working Group, there are about 6 000 canoes operating within two miles off the coast during the wet season and up to five miles during the dry season. There are eight Italian trawlers, most of which are locally based, operating on partnership basis with some Sierra Leone companies while the Soviet vessels are licensed to fish on the continental shelf of Sierra Leone. Only part of the catches of the Soviet vessels is landed in Freetown.
The main trawl fishing grounds off Sierra Leone and southern Guinea has been described by Williams (1963) (see Pig. 3). Off Sierra Leone, Williams identified Melakori grounds near the Guinea border and also the Banana Island, Sherbro, Dengar and Sulima grounds.
According to information supplied by the Sierra Leone participant, the total catch of canoes is estimated at about 40 000 tons. This is predominantly pelagic fish species. The proportion of demersal fishes in the whole canoe catch is not known.
Table 3 Landings of U.S.S.R. vessels in Freetown (Sierra Leone)
Species |
Landings (metric tons) |
||
|
1975 |
1976 |
1977 |
Alosa sp. |
550 |
4 110.0 |
4 476 |
Sphyraena spp. |
20 |
43.3 |
12 |
Pseudotolithus spp. |
50 |
880.0 |
133 |
Epinephelus spp. |
12 |
48.0 |
89 |
Muraenidae |
- |
393.0 |
1.3 |
Scyris alexandrinus |
210 |
410.0 |
1 032 |
Carangidae |
13 |
39.0 |
130 |
Arius sp. |
15 |
471.0 |
- |
Sepia spp. |
- |
13.5 |
- |
Pomadasys jubelini |
- |
- |
5.0 |
Sparidae |
32 |
- |
31.7 |
Sarda sarda |
- |
- |
190.7 |
Sardinella spp. |
432 |
513.9 |
2 020 |
Gerres spp. |
466 |
249.0 |
2 950 |
Total |
1 800 |
7 530.4 |
11 070.7 |
Vessel days |
360 |
1 454 |
2 056 |
Source: Fisheries Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Freetown (Sierra Leone)Table 4 Landings of Italian inshore trawlers in Freetown (Sierra Leone) during 1976
Species |
Tonnage |
Gerres sp. |
470.04 |
Polynemus sp. |
3.62 |
Brachydeuterus auritus |
331.29 |
Sphyraena sp. |
136.77 |
Lycodontis spp |
59.77 |
Pomadasys jubelini |
173.82 |
Arius sp. |
138.49 |
Sepia sp. |
3.97 |
Pseudotolithus spp. |
1 233.07 |
Lutjanus spp. |
5.50 |
Sardinella spp. |
107.27 |
Trachinotus spp. |
162.81 |
Scomber japonicus |
2.92 |
Vomer setapinis |
15.35 |
Decapterus punctatus |
29.14 |
Epinephelus spp. |
0.74 |
Pseudupeneus prayensis |
28.34 |
Sparidae |
290.85 |
Polydactylus sp. |
46.77 |
Cynoclossus senegalensis |
130.95 |
Drepane africana |
268.78 |
Galeoides decadactylus |
847.04 |
Loligo spp. |
9.67 |
Scoliodon |
15.69 |
Rhinobatos |
54.92 |
Trichiurus lepturus |
53.51 |
Albula vulpes |
129.81 |
Others |
53.45 |
Total |
4 804.45 |
Source: Fisheries Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Freetown (Sierra Leone)Landings for the trawl fleet for 1976 are broken down as follows:
Soviet fleet: 7 580 metric tonsTables 3 and 4 give detailed landings for the Societ fleet as well as for the Italian vessels. It was not known whether all the fish landed were caught on the continental shelf of Sierra Leone.
Italian vessels: 4 804 metric tons