1. The CIFA (Committee for Inland Fisheries of Africa) Sub-Committee for the Protection and Development of Fisheries in the Sahelian Zone held its fourth Session from 7 to 10 May 1990 at the Palais des Nations in Conakry, Guinea. The Session was attended by representatives of the Sub-Committee's seven member countries and by observers from France, Ghana, the European Economic Community (EEC), the Mano River Union and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The list of delegates and observers is given in Appendix D.
2. Mr. Alkaly Dieng, Adviser to the Secretariat of State for Fisheries in Guinea, briefly introduced and gave an historical sketch of the Sub-Committee.
3. Mr. J.H. Thorigne, FAO Representative in Guinea, speaking on behalf of the Director-General of FAO, Mr. Edouard Saouma, welcomed the Republic of Guinea as a new member of the Sub-Committee.
4. Mr. Thorigne stressed the Sub-Committee's role as a basic technical support structure in the formulation and implementation of FAO's Regular Fisheries Programme, reminded participants of the importance of the work they were about to do and thanked the host country for its efforts in making arrangements to facilitate the work of the Sub-Committee's Fourth Session at Conakry.
5. Mr. Thorigne then outlined the activity of the Secretariat in the light of the recommendations of the Third Session held in Accra, Ghana, in October 1986, and expressed the view that this Session should lead to closer cooperation among countries of the sub-region in the design and implementation of fisheries development programmes, in fishing research and management and the carrying through of new ideas for regional fishery projects in the Sahelian zone.
6. The session was opened by Dr. Mamadou Boye Barry, Secretary of State for Fisheries. He thanked FAO for allowing the Fourth Session of the Sub-Committee for the Protection and Development of Fisheries in the Sahelian Zone to be held in Guinea and welcomed the participants. He stressed the importance of inland water bodies and mentioned Guinea's interest in inland fisheries development. He also emphasized the need to exploit fully Guinea's inland water and aquaculture potential with a view to regional cooperation in a concerted action programme aimed at resource conservation, fish product price stabilization and fisheries training.
7. The Sub-Committee unanimously elected Mr. Jean-Paul Sarre of Guinea as Chairman and Mr. Bocar Oumar Sall of Senegal and Elhaji Maman Saadou of Niger as Vice-Chairmen.
8. The agenda was adopted as given in Annex A. The documents presented to the Session are shown in Annexes B and C.
9. At the request of one of the delegations, the Secretariat presented document CIFA/PD:/90/Inf.6, giving information on the history and terms of reference of CIFA and its subsidiary bodies, the establishment and role of the CIFA Sub-Committee for the Sahelian Zone and the sessions held since its establishment in 1976.
10. The Secretariat was then requested to report on activities since the Third Session and to make time for a discussion on the frequency of the Sub-Committee's Sessions under Agenda item 8.
11. Delegates provided an overview of the situation in their countries.
Burkina Faso
12. The construction of a number of dams had led to a growth in water resources giving impetus to a fisheries development policy in Burkina Faso. The country had an under-exploited fisheries potential of some 12 000 t. Short and medium-term fisheries development policy was based mainly on the establishment of self-supporting groups of fish producers and traders and on rational resource management. To this end, a number of awareness, training and organization programmes had been launched, and a research programme aimed at defining models for exploiting resources and increasing production was under way.
13. The Fisheries Department came under the Ministry of the Environment and Tourism and most projects were funded through external assistance. The most important projects were the Fishing Potential Realization Project (EEC-funded) covering 11 provinces and the Project for Fisheries Management in the South West (financed by Germany) covering five provinces.
14. The major constraints to the development of the sector were: the lack of a fishing tradition in the centre and east of the country (hence the importance of the training programme of the fishermen of these regions); organizational shortcomings in marketing and staff shortages at the Fisheries Department.
The Gambia
15. Inland fisheries in the Gambia were divided into two zones (Lower and Upper Gambia) situated north and south of the River Gambia. Lower Gambia comprised the estuarine zone, whose waters were brackish throughout the year. Upper Gambia had a purely freshwater regime. Government development efforts were geared to improving the nutritional and socio-economic standards of the rural communities and curbing rural/urban drift through the creation of employment opportunities.
16. Aquaculture development began in the eighties with a fish culture project in Upper Gambia which failed, due to a variety of economic, social and technical factors.
17. With the technical assistance of the University of West Virginia (USA) a site had this year (1990) been identified to study the feasibility of fish culture.
18. An oyster culture project was implemented in Lower Gambia in 1986/87 with IDRC funds to study the biology of the West African mangrove oyster and to experiment with a rack culture system.
19. Two fishing community centres were built early in 1987 in two Lower Gambia villages. The Italian Government provided further financing to enable the project to be extended to five additional villages along the Lower River.
20. Even though inland fisheries were carried out on a small scale, their contribution to fish exports was significant when compared to that of industrial fishing.
Guinea
21. River fishing potential in Guinea was estimated at 12 000 t per year. Regional statistics for 1984 indicated a catch of 4 000 t. The potential for marine fishing and aquaculture was also high since environmental conditions were good. According to the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Department there were about 1 000 river fishermen, but this was certainly an under-estimate since fishing communities consisting primarily of Somonos and Bozos were widely dispersed. The fisheries and fish culture micro-project, based at Kankan in Upper Guinea, was in charge of monitoring fishermen and providing inputs.
22. The main obstacles to development were insufficient knowledge of fishery potential and the lack of equipment and human resources to organize resource exploitation.
23. Recommended measures to remedy this situation included an inventory of hydro-biological resources, stock assessment, collecting and centralizing information gathered by various agencies (e.g., ONCHO project and ORSTOM). As regards human resources, recommendations included socio-economic surveys of fishermen and their communities and, in particular, training for all those involved in the sub-sector, including administration officials.
Mali
24. Fishing potential in Mali waters overall was currently estimated at 70 000 t, including production from the Selingue and Manantali Dams. Mali was focusing on research to increase fisheries impact on the economy and contribution to food self-sufficiency. Special attention was being focused on fisheries surveys, research into new processing technologies, studying fish marketing and consumption and, last of all, identifying fish culture zones.
25. The main institutions involved in development and research included the National Water and Forests Department, the Mopti Fishery Operation and the Selingue and Mopti Hydrobiological Laboratories.
26. Major constraints to development included the decline in production due to adverse climatic conditions, population growth and the pressure exerted on fish stocks, the lack of an organized marketing chain for fresh fish and the need for a well organized credit system for fishermen.
Niger
27. Even though Niger was largely desert, it had significant water resources which could be exploited (e.g., the River Niger, which flowed for 650 km through the country). However, these resources were in continuous decline, causing a serious problem.
28. From an estimated potential of 20 000 t some ten years ago, fish production fell to 2 200 t in 1987. These estimates should however be treated with caution. Most fishermen exploiting Niger's fishery resources were foreigners, mainly from Mali. Their number had however significantly declined over the past ten years with many switching to other activities such as crop and livestock farming. Fresh fish was marketed only in the large urban centres but was also consumed by the fishing communities themselves. A large proportion of the catch was sold dried.
29. Mention was made of a fisheries development programme, including two fisheries development and fishermen training projects, set up with help from FAO and UNICEF, the results of which had been satisfactory. Small-scale fishery development activities had also been undertaken as part of integrated projects, with help from NGOs. An important aquaculture project had been set up to produce good quality fish and offset the decline in natural production. To this end, a technique for cage-breeding Tilapia nilotica from Niger had been tried out. Results had been convincing and the experiment extended to three sites, using 40 pilot aquaculturists. An inland fishery development project was about to be launched in Niger to lend support to all these activities. It was being financed by the African Development Bank (ADB) for a five-year period and covered five departments. Activities under this project would take account of the Government's concern regarding fishery development in Niger.
Senegal
30. Total fish production in inland waters fell from 47 000–60 000 t prior to the drought to 37 000 t in 1977. Fish was sold on the local market fresh or refrigerated and sometimes fermented or dried. Fish from inland fisheries accounted for only 10 percent of total fish consumption.
31. The Water, Forests and wildlife Department was responsible for inland fisheries but suffered from understaffing, with the result that the monitoring of activities and fishermen was inadequate. Mesh-size control measures had been introduced and a statistical survey network set up. It had also been noted that fishermen had switched to other activities or migrated to better fishing zones as a result of the drought.
32. Generally speaking, the two major dams, Diama and Manantali, had had harmful effects on inland fisheries.
33. Constraints to inland fisheries development in Senegal included inadequate monitoring of the activity due to a shortage of expert staff (training in this area had to be done abroad).
34. Stress had been laid on the need to obtain fisheries statistics on a regular basis and to ensure that regulations were obeyed. With regard to prospects for inland fishery development, the main difficulty was finance. Only one out of 12 projects under consideration for 1990 had received financing.
Chad
35. Fishing in Chad was exclusively of the inland type. Chad had also had to deal with a prolonged drought and the effects of a war.
36. Estimated annual fish production in the area of Lake Chad which belonged to the country was 80 000 t per year. This put fishing in third place behind crop and livestock farming. It had been established that fishermen earned three times as much as farmers.
37. One of the features of fishing in Chad was that landing points were very far from consumption points, which meant a problem of transport and fish conservation. Fish was marketed smoked, dried and salt-dried. Constraints to fisheries development in Chad were mainly drought, lack of knowledge of stock levels and production, lack of trained personnel, especially extension agents and overfishing of water bodies.
38. This item was handled as a Seminar, using papers prepared especially for the occasion (listed in Annex C). The Sub-Committee endorsed the conclusions of the Seminar.
39. The Seminar reviewed and analysed the progress and status of traditional management systems on the basis of research underway in the central delta of the Niger (Mali) and case studies carried out in other countries of the sub-region.
Traditional management systems
40. Participants noted the growing number of fishing disputes in the sub-region. They also noted the durability of traditional fishing methods and the number of features they shared (exclusive fishing rights, fishing territories, management procedures geared to particular fisheries, temporary relinquishment of rights against payment, controls on fishing and gear and settlement of disputes). It nevertheless emerged that the function of these traditional methods varied consideraby in relation to prevailing biological and socio-economic environments and the interests involved.
41. In many cases, traditional regulations had lost their original coherence or had been considerably altered but often remained as an extremely useful management framework, especially where State management was lacking.
42. On the whole, the Seminar felt that traditional regulations had failed to evolve sufficiently into a system guaranteeing continuous balanced fishing, due to their built-in contradictions and the changing context of fishing. The Sub-Committee nevertheless felt that an inventory of these regulations and of the bio-ecological knowledge acquired by fishermen was needed so that their most positive aspects could be incorporated in current legislation. The future of traditional regulations would depend on clarification of the role of the State and related institutions in management. The Sub-Committee suggested that legislation in the various countries of the sub-region which recognized traditional fishing rights should make clear the status of these rights in the hierarchy of legislation as well as their nature, scope and consequences for those enjoying them and for others.
43. The growing importance of migrant fishermen, especially for reservoir fishing was discussed. There was a need to formulate policies geared to the situation at national and local level. It was observed that limiting non-indigenous fishermen's access could result in a decline in revenue, catches and employment for the host country or region. Conversely, when fisheries were open to the most efficient operators, including migrants, there were significant economic repercussions for the indigenous population in post-fishing activities such as processing, transport and marketing. The Sub-Committee nevertheless felt it was important to assess the current status of migrant fishermen and to examine the problems this raised so that the information could be conveyed to the relevant regional and international agencies.
Modern management systems
44. Modern management systems introduced by the central authorities were often disappointing. The main factors responsible were inadequate assessment of the complexity of fisheries and, sometimes, lack of resources. This led to failure to properly identify management objectives and strategies and clearly formulate them in sectoral development plans. The Seminar moreover repeatedly recommended that a serious effort should still be made to formulate effective sectoral development plans and ensure their implementation and monitoring. This would also help to obtain financing when coordinated projects were proposed as a means of implementing thoroughly defined development management strategies.
45. It was noted that the main problem lay in the allocation of limited resources, with the result that the institutional framework (along with its legal provisions) often fell short of being effective management tools for fisheries, themselves extremely complex and the subject of much ignorance.
46. Participants declared themselves in favour of implementing management policies which were: decentralized for similar types of fisheries and decentralized at national, regional and local level, with structures providing for effective collaboration between the public sector (administration and research) and the private sector (fishing operators). This would make it easier to design and put into effect management measures based on a greater appreciation of their biological, economic and social effects. This approach, endorsed by a number of countries in the region, could be strengthened for certain fisheries by the adoption of procedures regulating fishing effort by placing limits on the free access principle and recognizing territorial control with a legal basis at local level.
47. The Seminar noted with interest that the introduction of a licence quota system was planned to regulate fishermen's access to the Selingue Dam water body in Mali. Participants however stressed the importance of ensuring that the implementation of measures limiting access, whether official or traditional, should not increase fishermen's tax burden.
48. Several countries' fisheries legislation should be reviewed and adapted, with care being taken to limit the provisions regulating fishing gear and techniques and access for fishermen in view of the sometimes chronic lack of reliable information on the biological, social and economic impact of such provisions. Requests for asssistance in this area could be made to FAO and other appropriate agencies.
49. It was also recommended that an annotated compendium of the inland fishery laws of the countries of the sub-region be published to facilitate comparative analysis and help harmonize provisions applying to water bodies shared by more than one country.
50. It was acknowledged that fishing in the sub-region was an extremely complex system. Management could not therefore be approached only from the point of view of resource protection but considerable attention had to be focused on social and economic factors peculiar to the sector. The different components of this system (terms of access to fishing and production/marketing conditions) were closely interwoven and interdependent.
Research and training
51. As regards research, an integrated approach, defined and implemented jointly by the different disciplines concerned, should replace the approach consisting of independent and separate studies. In this connexion the work of the Niger central delta (Mali) fishing studies programme (begun in 1987) carried out jointly by the National Animal Husbandry Research Institute and ORSTOM, was discussed. It was agreed, for example, that the exhaustive studies on traditional fisheries management methods in the delta and analyses of operation mechanisms in the sector were an invaluable contribution to research in that they enabled the decision-makers to make the policy choices necessary for optimum resource exploitation, the preservation of social harmony and eventually the formulation of coherent management plans.
52. With regard to tropical river fisheries situated in a variable environment, multi-disciplinary work appeared to confirm the limitations of classical management models based on the concept of maximum balanced yield.
53. During the course of the discussions, it was agreed that this type of systematic approach should be used elsewhere in the region although the time required for this kind of project and its relatively high cost could severly hamper financing for similar activities in neighbouring countries. It was hoped that Mali would report regularly to other member countries on the results obtained. The methodology tested should be systematically and widely disseminated.
54. It was noted that even when inland fishing was a major contributor to the national economy, administrations responsible for inland fisheries generally had insufficient staff and budget resources. To improve effective management, the Sub-Committee felt it was necessary to upgrade coordination and cooperation among institutions responsible for applied research, extension and training or institutions involved with water for other purposes. The responsibilities of each institution should be clearly defined in order to facilitate the formulation and implementation of management plans.
55. A general training effort was needed, especially where field agents were concerned. Management would be made easier if more importance were given to these agents' monitoring and extension functions than to their other functions.
Scientific and technical information
56. The overall shortage of information and statistical data was felt to be a major management constraint. This situation could be significantly improved by a better exchange of scientific and technical information among countries of the sub-region.
57. Remote sensing by satellite was put forward as a useful method for determining management requirements, especially for obtaining baseline data and monitoring the impact of environmental changes on water bodies in the sub-region. This method could complement aerial surveys and information obtained in the field. Remote sensing would also be particularly useful for cataloguing small water bodies, pinpointing zones suitable for aquaculture development, describing variations and forecasting fish culture prouction in the floodplains and reservoirs where surface area varied considerably from year to year.
58. It was also hoped that the “inland waters” component of FAO's remote sensing programme would in future take account of the information requirements of member countries of the Sub-Committee.
Aquaculture
59. Progress in aquaculture in the sub-region was reviewed on the basis of an information paper. The situation was thought to be generally disappointing. Apart from a few exceptions, such as certain “in cage” fish culture and pond management activities, the retail price of fish was often higher than the selling price. Emphasis was placed on the need to improve project prefeasibility studies and give adequate space to fish culture training in order to bring about the degree of professionalism required to make this type of activity viable and to integrate fish culture works as much as possible in agricultural management.
60. On the basis of document CIFA/PD:S/90/3/Rev.1, presented by the Secretariat, the Sub-Committee discussed the essential role which could be played in the sub-region by a suitable system for collecting and distributing scientific, technical and economic data derived from fishing activity and fishery and aquaculture development projects.
61. It was agreed that closer cooperation among research scientists working in the member countries would be extremely useful, especially with a view to the establishment and operation of a fisheries and aquaculture data bank in the sub-region.
62. In view of the Seminar's conclusions on the need to improve fisheries management in the Sahel and the complexity of the problem at both national and regional level, the Sub-Committee recommended that a sub-regional inland fisheries management and planning support project covering the Sahel countries be implemented without delay. One of the major aims of the regional project should be to gather and disseminate scientific and technical information in the sub-region.
63. The Secretariat presented a document on cooperation with international organizations concerned with fisheries in the sub-region (CIFA/PD:S/90/4).
64. The various organizations whose programme of work included activities wholly or partly concerned with fishing were described: the West African Eocnomic Community (WAEC), the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS), the Niger Basin Authority (ABN) and the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC).
65. Since the Sub-Committee's establishment, CILSS had been collaborating with the Friends of the Sahel Club and the OECD but the Sub-Committee had noted a gradual decline in CILSS involvement in fisheries. It therefore welcomed the resurgence in CILSS activities as a result of the Secretariat's efforts since 1985.
66. The major constraints to fisheries development in the Sahel were noted. They were mainly: the shortage of human resources to promote fisheries development, the state of scientific knowledge of aquatic ecosystems and fisheries in the sub-region, lack of adequate technical and financial support, and insufficient cooperation in implementing, managing and exchanging scientific and technical information in the sub-region.
67. The Secretariat reviewed its work since the previous session on the basis of document CIFA/PD:S/90/Inf.7. It made particular mention of its contacts with member countries, its activities in carrying out the recommendations of the Third Session, assistance to Sub-Committee member countries in conjunction with fisheries development policy planning and, its contribution to the rehabilitation of the Lake Chad Basin Commission's fisheries sector. The Commission's report of a seminar (CIFA/PD:S/90/Inf.5) held from 8 to 12 January 1990, was distributed at the session.
68. The question of the frequency of the Sub-Committee's meetings was discussed. It was noted that sessions could take place every two years in line with FAO's budget period and its General Conference and that financial constraints and the need for a minimum number of topics for the agenda of Sub-Committee Sessions could affect this frequency.
69. The Sub-Committee hoped it would meet as far as possible every two years and recommended that the Secretariat be allocated substantial resources to enable it to support the CIFA Sub-Committee's activities for the protection and development of fisheries in the Sahel.
70. The Sub-Committee noted that Senegal and Niger could be in a position to host its Fifth Session in 1992, subject to official approval by their respective Governments which would be communicated to the Director-General of FAO.
71. The report was adopted on 10 May 1990. A vote of thanks was passed by participants to the Government of Guinea for hosting the Session.
