Dr. Salieu Sankoh and Mrs. Kadijatu Jalloh

Sierra Leone has considerable fish resources that have the potential of contributing significantly to food security, income and employment in the country. About 200 different marine species have been identified of which about 100 are commercially valuable.

The fisheries sub-sector plays a significant role in the national economy contributing about 9.4% to the GDP and is the most important economic activity along the coastline of Sierra Leone.

The coast of Sierra Leone contains about 450,000 MT of fish value around US$500 million. The fisheries sector has the potential to contribute over USD 30 Million annually through improved investment and with improved MCS.

The Sierra Leone fisheries sector consists of (i) the industrial, (ii) the artisanal and (iii) aquaculture sectors. The industrial sector is capital intensive and operates mostly off-shore. The artisanal sector is generally of very low-technology and operates in the in-shore marine fisheries and in-land (fresh water) fisheries. There is some fairly primitive fresh water aquaculture mainly in ponds.

Fisheries Sector Policy Goal The mission of the MFMR is to manage, develop and regulate the sector responsibly and sustainably to

attain food security and contribute to economic growth.

Fisheries Sector Policy Objectives Government Policy objectives in the Fisheries Development Programmes focuses on the following

objectives:   To improve national nutrition and food security through responsible fishing and the reduction of spoilage

and wastage  To increase employment opportunities and also diversify incomes in the rural sector with an adequate

extension services for the artisanal fisherfolks   To raise socio economic status of the people in the fisheries sector including the women with an

adequate surveillance capability and improvement of fisheries infrastructure for Value Addition  To improve the skills of the fishing communities and increase export earnings in the industrial fisheries

for the access to EU and International markets   Promote rational management of the fisheries based on scientific information and increased participation.  Strengthen regional and international collaboration in the sustainable exploitation, management and

conservation of shared stocks and shared water bodies.

The fishery of Sierra Leone is broadly classified into three subsectors:

The highly mechanized industrial fisheryThe low technology small-scale artisanal

fisheryThe under-developed aquaculture and

inland fisheries

This subsector is highly capital intensive and foreign-dominated but constitutes the main stay for revenue generation from the fishery. It is estimated that the industrial fisheries activity currently employs about 1000 people and contributes between 15-20 % of total fish production in the country.

A Demersal Fish Trawler and Transhipment

The artisanal fishery is a significant source of employment, rural income and fish protein to vast majority of Sierra Leoneans. Over 100,000 mt of fish is produced yearly in this sector.

Characterized by diverse fishing gears and crafts and is a major activity in the coastal districts of Western Area, Port Loko, Kambia, Moyamba, Bonthe and Pujehun.

The fishery is conducted from 640 fishing landing sites in the country and creates direct employment for about 30,000 fishermen.

An estimated 200,000 additional jobs are provided by ancillary activities like fish processing, marketing, boat-building and engineering, with women playing major roles in the fish distribution channels.

Fish Landings at Tombo and some Artisanal fishing crafts

Inland fisheries is practiced in lakes, rivers and floodplains. Estimates from inland fishery production is around 20,000 tonnes with 5,000 tonnes coming from lakes and 15,000 tonnes from riverine and flood plains.

Aquaculture is practised in the hinterlands, in ponds created in inland valley swamps in the towns of B0 and Makali with the nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) as the main species, though fresh water catfish (Clarias spp) is also cultured.

Freshwater Catfish- Clarias spp.

The fisheries resources of Sierra Leone may be classified into four main categories: (i) pelagics, (ii) demersals (iii) crustaceans and (iv) others (mostly molluscs).

The Pelagic fish stocks The pelagic fish stocks are

classified into true pelagics, semi-pelagics and large pelagics. The clupeids (Ethmalosa fimbriata, Sardinella maderensis, Sardinella aurita, Illisha Africana, Caranx hippos, ) are the most important of the small pelagics.

Caranx hippos (Cowreh)

The most dominant demersal fish resources are broadly classified into the following families:

Sciaenidae which comprise of the croakers, principally Pseudotolithus senegalensis, etc.

Haemulidae which comprise chiefly of the Pomadasys jubelini etc.

The Sparidae are dominated by Sparus caeruleostictus, Pagellus bellotii, Dentex canariensis etc

.The Polynemidae of which the dominant species are Galeiodes decadactylus,

Other important demersal fish species in Sierra Leone waters are the Lutjanids, dominated by Lutjanus goreensis,

The shellfish resources are dominated by the crustaceans (shrimps, crabs and Lobster), Cephalopods (cuttlefish) and Molluscs (gastropods and bivalves).

Grouper, Red Snapper and Rose Shrimp respectively

Industrial Fishery Artisanal Fishery

Total

Year Shrimp Lobster&

Crab

Cuttlefish Snail Sharks &Ray

Demersal Fish

Tunas Pelagics Mix Fish Industrial and Artisanal

2000 1505 298 308 - - 11127 - 1061 45910 60109

2001 1277 337 1169 - 120 10993 6166 2536 30050 62548

2002 1119 194 3562 - 126 7315 - 1405 55659 69380

2003 1541 215 4598 - 150 9549 - 1112 65458 82623

2004 1445 127 1596 1266 175 8011 - 1611 106216 120447

2005 1378 106 2017 1883 135 7756 - 2522 116614 132411

2006 1354 159 982 1065 143 8526 - 1413 120490 134132

2007 1365 262 790 925 166 14091 - 1337 111937 130873

2008 932 1212 221 12041 - 4647 171126 190187

2009 828 1197 108 14339 - 3176 243634 263291

2010 605 245 48 14999 - 4525 20420

Year Fish Shrimps Other shellfish*

Export (mt)

Value of export (US$)

Export (mt)

Value of export (US$)

Export (mt)

Value of export (US$)

2001 4849 3,764,937 1325 6,758,566 591 7,542,705

2002 1925 1,845,126 1187 6,053,745 3180 11,226,689

2003 1343 1,550,707 1404 7,160,936 2848 10,556,106

2004 1139 1,490,025 1587 9,493,053 1980 6,090,354

2005 754 939,438 1281 7,661,128 1118 3,637,807

The Artisanal Fisheries Development Project funded by the ADB constructed four fish landing site at Tombo, Goderich, Shenge and Bonthe for the purpose of increasing the livelihood and bring economic benefits to these Fishing communities.

The main objective of this project was to add Value to the product for the local market and not for exporting to the International market with its required standards.

Now that the issues of Fish Quality Assurance and fisheries export into the International market is a priority of the Ministry, there is a need for this site to be equipped with fish processing and distribution facilities that will meet the required International standards

Freetown is in desperately in need of a Fisheries Harbour There no place for fishing vessels to unload and offload

their fish and fishery products and with no unloading space there can be no onshore processing.

Sierra Leone receives very little share of the value of its fishery, that is with only license fees, there is not much of export value, shore employment or business development.

In a managed fishery a gross margin on processing of US$ 25 million may be achievable increasing to US$ 55 million by year 5

The Ministry of Fisheries has secured US $ 8 million from the World Bank through the West Africa Regional Fisheries Programme(WARFP) for the construction of a National Fisheries Harbour with the aim of bringing the Fishing activities onshore to address the following concerns;

Maximization of fisheries sector contribution to the national economy. Increasing employment opportunities related to fisheries. Attract & encourage local and foreign investments in the sector.0 Offer efficient service for the stakeholders. Minimize of post-harvest losses by adding value to the product. Provide unloading and packing facilities to cater for fish importing countries

requirements (International requirements). Control on Illegal fishing practice such as transhipment Strategically locate the fish exporting harbour to the major fishing operations

A Fisheries infrastructure will generally consists of the following:

A safe mooring area (the cheapest form is beaching, the most expensive a deepwater port);

Provision for utilities and boat servicing (Dry Docking water, fuel, workshops);

Fish handling infrastructure (ice plant, cold storage, sorting areas, fish handling and processing facilities); and

Marketing infrastructure (fish market hall, road to nearest city market or connection to a motorway or airport).

The fund that has being acquired so far is very limited to fully construct a comprehensive harbour complex and the Landing Site Clusters at Konakridee , the road from the Lungi Airport to Konakridee and a Coldroom at the Airport.

The proposed costing for the completed complex and the other activities is in the range of US$ 60 to US $ 70 million.

Project Investment Fund(Phase 1 of Harbour project)

Cost(US$,000)

Design and Supervision 730 Port Infrastructure 8,105 Buildings 2,964 Utilities and Services 950 Total Estimate 13,000

PPP Initiatives

Cost(US$ ,000)

Fish Processing Units 250-750 Cold Storage(5,000 tonnes) 1,100 Ice Production(50 Tonnes per day) 415 Standby Power Generation 500 Boat Yard for Building and Maintenance 2,000 Total Estimate 4,250

The Ministry plans to construct this modern fish Harbour complex with a fisheries Quay, Transshipment Quay, Reefer Quay and a Port Administration Building. The investment will consist of two Phases:

  Phase1 : has some support of US $ 8 million under WARFP-SL, and

an additional US$9,750 is required under a Public Private Partnership Arrangement to cover fish processing structure and cold Storage facility. There is therefore the need for more investment for a modernized fish harbour complex to accommodate up to 20 vessels at a time and all the other required structures like the Fish processing hall, Cold Storage, Ice production, vessel construction and maintenance.

In this regard and in line with the national Infrastructure approach of the Government, the ministry welcomes any interested party to enter into a partnership arrangement to establish this facility by providing the additional funds required to complete this project.

Support Services at the fisheries harbour in Freetown: Fish processing, Cold Storage, Ice sale-whole sale and retail. Transshipment at the Port,

An Incentive to minimize illegal transshipment at the Port.

Fish landing sites with protected birthing facilities and support infrastructure at Konakridee, Tombo, Shenge and Bonthe