b. The government's efforts toward sustainable
fisheries
The elaboration and implementation of a sustainable policy
requires the consultation of all stakeholders especially small scale
fisherfolks who represent the majority of fisherfolks. In 2007, the Ministry of
Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) changed its strategy and decided to
revamp the Fishery Policy of Sierra Leone 2003 (FAO 2004). The new
strategy, more inclusive towards fisherfolks, aimed at consulting them on
policies and measures that would improve the fishery sector and consequently
their livelihoods. The consultations were conducted for 3 years with the
support of the Institute of Marine Biology and Oceanography, the EU and the FAO
and led to multiple policy drafts. The by-product of this collaboration between
stakeholders at local, national, and international level was the creation of
the Policy and Operational Framework for Fisheries of Sierra Leone.
This new groundwork's focal point was the commitment to sustainability of the
marine resources in order to combat poverty and generate wealth for coastal
populations (GoSL 2010).
Fishery was a lesser concern compared to agriculture and
mining for economic growth, poverty alleviation and food security when the
first poverty reduction strategy paper was written in 2001. At the time,
achieving poverty reduction and food security went hand in hand with enhanced
production of crop and fish to a lesser concern. As we demonstrated before,
more food does not automatically mean less poverty and more food security. When
the AfC was drafted, the fishery sector became a more important concern for the
government, and the way the government perceived it evolved. Sierra Leone's
fish production golden years came at the end of the 90's when peak production
represented around 85 million tonnes. But since then production never ceased to
decrease and in almost 40 years the stocks Sierra Leoneans are able to fish
within biologically sustainable levels declined from 90% to 71%. Almost 30% of
the fish stocks are estimated to be exploited at unsustainable level meaning
overfishing (FAO 2014).
In the late 00's, fisherfolks started noticing a scarce fish
supply and worried, this concern was translated in the second part of the AfC:
`Strategic Priorities' more precisely in the third point `Enhancing
Productivity in Agriculture and Fisheries'. In 2008, fishery contributed 8% of
the
37
GDP and 15 to 20% of the domestic fish production. Realizing
that the potential of the sector wasn't close to being fully explored the
government expressed the will to better manage the sector and introduced a
sustainability approach. The new poverty reduction paper A4P built on the work
of the AfC and further established that, while the country needs to take
advantage of its natural resources more, it should do so in a sustainable
fashion. Fishery continued to concern the government and «sustainability
issues have, rightly, risen up the agenda» (GoSL 2013).
***
Including the fishery sector in the latest PRSPs made possible
the adoption of comprehensive policies which united sustainable management of
natural resources with poverty reduction and economic growth. Sustainable
fishery generate revenue to Sierra Leone and also benefits populations who
depend on the fishery sector for employment and food. Therefore, the more
sustainable-oriented the government policies and fisherfolks' practices are,
the more we increase the economic potential of the sector, which will lead to
poverty reduction and food insecurity in the long term.
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