A Local Fishery Comes Back to Life in Senegal

In 2009, many artisanal fishermen in Ngaparou, Senegal were competing for a dwindling resource. With community led management in villages like Ngaparou, there are now more fish and more jobs for everyone.

While almost a third of assessed fish stocks worldwide are over-exploited and small scale fishers are struggling with depleted oceans, Ngaparou, Senegal stands as an example of recovery. In Ngaparou fishing has been a way of life for hundreds of years. When faced with dwindling yields the local people needed to ensure that fishing would remain a profitable and sustainable enterprise for the future of their community.

Highlights:

In 2009, the fishery in Ngaparou was on the brink of collapse

 

Management and education efforts led to a 42% increase in the average size of fish as reported by fishers

 

Now there are well-paying jobs in fish processing, sales and transport along with gear and boat related industries

In 2009, the fishery in Ngaparou was on the brink of collapse due largely to a combination of over-fishing from artisanal fishing and added pressure of semi-industrial fishing vessels further offshore.  Every year, fewer and fewer fishermen were able to support themselves and feed their families.

Working closely with international and regional organizations including the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (CSRP), the people of Ngaparou established “co-management areas” run entirely by the local fishing community. They set limits on the number of fishing boats that could fish at a given time and determined the quantities of different fish species that could be sustainably extracted from their fishing zone. These community organizations of fishers collectively registered fishing vessels and enforced legal fishing through self-policing. The community also benefits from assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard for illegal fishing surveillance along the coast.

Less than four years later, these community management efforts have led to a significant recovery of the fish stocks and made Ngaparou one of the most productive coastal marine areas in the country.

“In the beginning, the main objective was restoration of our fish,” says Issa Sagne, President of the Local Committee of Fishers of Ngaparou (CLP). “Now, the fish are really abundant. We know when people from other villages are fishing illegally in our area when they try to sell very large fish that can only be found here now.”

The CLPs management and education efforts have led to a 42 percent increase in the average size of fish and a 133 percent increase in the biomass of fish caught in a single trip as reported by members of the Ngaparou fishing community.

With increased revenue from the fishery, employment in Ngaparou has quickly diversified. Local women have joined together to manage a small fishing supply store. Last year, the community pooled its resources to purchase a refrigerated truck that allows fishers to sell their catch at markets farther from the village. Now, there are plans to employ even more local people at an ice factory that will produce up to 5 tons of ice per day.

“The refrigerated truck has helped us stabilize the price of fish,” continues Sagne. “With the ice plant, we will be able to control the entire supply chain from ocean to market. Our focus now is on how to market the resource.”

The benefits of these efforts extend far beyond the fishers themselves and spill over into neighboring communities. Senegal has invested in infrastructure for fish landing sites that allow small and large fishing boats to process and sell their catch within the country and provide jobs for the non-fishing members of the community.

Now, the fish are really abundant. We know when people from other villages are fishing illegally in our area when they try to sell very large fish that can only be found here now
 
–  Issa Sagne, President of the Local Committee of Fishers of Ngaparou

Where once the majority of the community fished an increasingly scarce resource, now there are jobs in fish processing, sales and transport along with gear and boat related industries.

Ocean resource management to benefit small scale fishers has become a priority in Senegal on the national level as well. President Macky Sall was recently honored by the Peter Benchley Ocean Award for empowering small scale fishers in his country . One of his first acts after his election in 2012 was rescinding foreign fishing permits in Senegal’s Exclusive Economic Zone. The fish stocks in Senegal could not support the combined pressure from local and foreign fishing fleets. By securing fishing rights for artisanal fishermen, President Sall improved the fishery for coastal communities in Senegal. 

 

These local and national actions provide models for improving fishing management at different scales.  Locally-driven resource management that is nationally supported and contributes to the economy of an entire region can turn fisheries and regional economies around. By securing rights for artisanal fishermen, countries and communities empower fishers to become stewards for ocean conservation.

The Global Partnership for Oceans aims to work at the country and community level to promote ocean health and job security for the people who need it most.