Fishermen in Tombo, a fishing community in the Western Area Rural District have on Friday May 6, 2022 told Premier News that the recent increase the price of fuel has put over 200 artisanal fishing vessels out of operations, thereby rendering over 2000 fishermen jobless. The situation in the once booming fishing community now mirrors a crisis as the former bread winners battle with alternative means of making livelihoods for themselves and their families, in the wake of serious threats to nutrition of members of their households.
They said that before now, when all the fishing boats were operating efficiently, they used to have abundant catch some of which they supplied to fish mongers and provided nutrition for the population in the Country.
According to Amara Kamara, the head of the fishermen, they used to spend a whole week at sea to haul lot of fish, “but due to the increment in the price of fuel, we are now spending two days and sometimes, just a day; we sometimes have little catch and sometimes nothing. The more fuel we have, the more we stay at the sea and the more we make enough catch,” he said.
Kamara said that in order to stay longer at sea, therefore making, they need to fill the tanks of the outboard machines which power their boats . He said that sometimes 200 litres of fuel is needed but, “That would cost us over one million and five hundred thousand Leones; and we must at least take along five Gerry-gallon of fuel on board.” He added, “We used to pay below one million Leones for 200 litres, but for now, we are paying more than that. The price is not even stable. We will sometimes have the money to buy fuel but there will be no way to access it.”
He said that shortage of fish as a result of increment in the price of fuel had not only affected them the fishermen, but the population, mostly the fish mongers who have nothing to do besides trading in fish. “This is a big threat to the fish industry and the country as a whole,” he concluded.
Ibrahim Sorie Turay, a fisherman said another major challenge they always encounter has been increasing raids of illegal fishing crews from neighbouring countries, including Guinea and Liberia. He said that fishermen from those countries always destroy their fishing nets and sometimes chase them out of the sea. He said, “Since they usually come in large numbers to fish-at our own sea-they always chase us from the sea whenever we meet.”
Turay said that fishing had been his occupation since childhood, adding that majority of them have had no other skill except fishing. “Fish and fishing is very important to us here in Tombo. We survive through fishing; we cannot live without it. We are now going to bed without food; debts are increasing on us every day. Fishermen are suffering; our families are starving; fish mongers are crying everywhere,” he concluded.
By Ibrahim S.Bangura