By Tabora Bojang
Fisheries Minister Musa Drammeh has told the National Assembly that there are not more than twelve foreign commercial vessels operating in Gambian waters and they include 7 vessels from Senegal, 3 from Guinea Bissau, one from Egypt and one more from Mauritania.
Minister Drammeh explained that once these foreign vessels are registered in The Gambia, they are monitored by a system installed at the Ministry of Fisheries and “any fleet found wanting is punished”. The licences, he noted, are issued every three months, with the option to renew it. “There is a monitoring system already installed at the Ministry. Every detail of every vessel that operates within our waters is there and is checked on a daily basis,” he assured lawmakers.
The Gambian sea has been a lucrative ground for foreign fishing vessels who are often accused of overfishing, unlicensed fishing and underreporting of catches by those allowed to operate.
