Revisiting the Sunken Billions: The Gambia's Perspective

Wild-captured fisheries are critical for food security and economic growth. However, poor fisheries management practices have resulted in overfishing, causing fisheries stock depletion. The Gambia provides a remarkable context as nearly 100% of fish protein consumed in The Gambia is sourced from wild catch. Furthermore, the country often signed agreements with the European Union, and China among others to allow foreign fleets to exploit its marine resources in exchange for financial compensation. As a result, The Gambia has paid a price in terms of depleted fish stocks, struggling artisanal fishing and domestic fishing industries. This has heavily contributed to exploitation and overexploitation of marine resources with an estimated total removal of 6 million tonness of fish between 1950-2010 (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/22114645/17/supp/S1). Therefore, to address the trend of depleting fish stock, understanding the impact of overfishing on prospective catches and revenue losses is critical for informing policy directions.

I analyzed data of total fish catch in tonnes and its estimated economic value in U.S. dollars, using Sea Around Us Database (https://www.seaaroundus.org/). The analysis revealed that from 1950 to 2019, reported catches from industrial and foreign distant-water fishing fleets amounted to 3 million tonnes, with an estimated value of USD 3.4 billion. Intuitively, the illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) catches during the same period totaled 5.2 million tonnes, translating to approximately USD 6.1 billion. Altogether, the combined reported and unreported fish catches between 1950 and 2019 reached a staggering 8.3 million tonnes, valued at around USD 9.5 billion—a figure nearly five times the GDP of The Gambia. The preliminary estimate suggests that only 7% of the reported catch resulted in revenue accrued to the country. 

Therefore, The Gambia government should endeavor to introduce a wide range of Marine Protected Areas, introduce and enhance secure tenure systems to strengthen fisheries, and avoid exploitative international fishing agreements.

  #The lost Treasure