SOFIA FAO Training, addressing overfishing
Fish resources contribute 12% to Gambia’s national economy. Over 300,000 Gambians depend on fishing as a means of livelihood. However, as a member of the Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF), the West African nation, is exposed to incidences of overfishing with negative economic implications.
Scientists say, one out of two of Gambia’s fish stocks is overfished, and have recommended mitigating measures to be instituted and enforced. Richi Sharma, a Senior FAO Research Officer stated that
“Governments have to be involved; they have to institute compliance measures to eradicate overfishing.”
The United Nations has set a goal under the Sustainable Development Goals to end overfishing by 2030. So far, 50 percent of the fish stock in countries within the CECAF is overfished according to preliminary results. This presents a worrying trend that requires elevated commitment to Agenda 2030.
“Overfishing is caused by lack of regulations, management, enforcement, monitoring.”
The Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters and FAO hosted a four-day data collection training workshop on “State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) Analysis” for 27 participants from 22 countries within the CECAF from 16 to 20 May 2023 in Banjul. SOFIA is a user-friendly model developed to collect and analyze data in the Fisheries Sector.
Momodou Sidibeh, Deputy Director of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters made a statement that “As one of the beneficiary countries, the training will help us to properly collect and manage data at the Ministry of Fisheries, through this, issues of overfishing can be addressed. “
Participants will use the SOFIA model to ‘dig deep’ into the available data of demersal and pelagic fisheries, they will at the end of the training have an improved understanding of the current state of Fisheries stocks in CECAF. The EAF-Nansen Programme is supporting this process for the CECAF Area. The workshop will update the Reference List for Area 34 and introduce new assessment methodology.