By Amin Kef Sesay
The Sierra Leone Industrial Fishing Company Association (SLIFCA), in an issued Public Notice signed by its President, Bassem Mohamed, who is also the Managing Director of Sierra Fishing Company, Annie Joy Toure, as Vice President of SLIFCA, also the Managing Director Annsenkal Fishing Company, and finally by Alhaji Ibrahim Konteh, the Secretary General of SLIFCA and also Operations Manager, OK Global Fisheries Company, highlighted that the Fishing Industry in Sierra Leone has waited for a fish harbor complex for over 40 years since 1970, with many promises from their major international development partners.
They further posited that the construction of a fish harbor remains the main impediment for unlocking the wealth from the fisheries sector of Sierra Leone.
SLIFCA’s membership continued that they are aware of the planned fish harbor construction project at Black Johnson beach area which is executed by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, with funds granted by the Chinese Government.
The members stated how they would like to inform the general public and Sierra Leoneans residing overseas that their membership is in total support of the proposed project for certain reasons.
They maintained that as a stakeholder group in the fisheries sector, their Association has been part of the negotiations for the establishment of the fish harbor both at local and international level adding that as main end users of the project, they strongly support its implementation.
Secondly, they pointed out that the industrial fisheries sector is currently challenged with berthing, bunkering, vessel maintenance, cold storage and processing facility, trans-shipment, vessel inspections and catch offloading, packaging materials, and required capacities for middle level manpower in refrigeration, net mending and marine engineering.
All these, they said, will be addressed as part of the technical backstopping which the fish harbor project will provide for the people of Sierra Leone.
“The Fish harbor will provide entrance channels and interior channels to allow free movement of our fishing trawlers and other vessels for anchoring areas or turning basins, including support facilities for refuelling, vessel repairs, bonded stores for wrapping materials, fish processing platforms including cold storage facilities for renting and other vessel bunkering facilities,” they argued adding how all will provide jobs for thousands of Sierra Leonean fish processors, fishermen and fishing financiers.
They went on to point out that a fish harbor complex will provide opportunity for their fishing vessels to offload and trans-ship catches on the shores of Sierra Leone instead of at the ports of other countries.
SLIFCA said their membership is currently constrained with limitations of adequate berthing areas for their fishing vessels, which have made some vessels to choose other countries for doing business.
“We have lost fishing investments to our neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal where fish harbor complexes are available,” they lamented stating how all of their Tuna Vessels (over 60 tuna purse seiners) licensed by the Sierra Leone Government and fishing in the waters of Sierra Leone do not currently trans-ship their catches in Sierra Leone due to the absence of a fish harbor complex.
They disclosed that available designated berthing areas in the country do not meet the minimum standards for offloading and trans-shipment of fish from tuna vessels going forward to state how that reduces enormous revenues and economic returns for both the fishing industry and the Government of Sierra Leone.
“We would like to particularly point out to our people of Sierra Leone that the MFMR and SLIFCA is unable to enforce the required regulations for inspection of tuna vessels and other large fishing trawlers due to the absence of fish harbor complex in our country,” they said adding how such undermines the monitoring, control, surveillance (MCS) and the enforcement of hygiene and sanitary controls required for fish and fishery products to access International markets, including the European Union.
According to SLIFCA, based on the above reasons, they need to set the records straight both inside and outside of the country that referring to the project as a fish meal project or a rain forest sold out to the Chinese Government or Chinese Business interests is far from the truth.
“We would like to stress that the Black Johnson Beach area was chosen and demarcated for the fish harbor, only after the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources and our International development partners had done extensive environmental and social studies on several sites including the Kissy Dockyard Area, Murray Town Axis, Tagrin-Lungi Axis, Tombo Axis, that Black Johnson Beach area was chosen as the best suitable site for the fish harbor, with the least impact on resettlement of local communities and other social and environmental issues,” they stated and justified.
