The Confederation of African Artisanal Fisheries (Caopa) which held a meeting yesterday Thursday to launch an alert concerning factories producing fishmeal and fish oil which “threaten the future of African coastal communities”. According to the president of the African Confederation of Artisanal Fisheries (Caopa), Gaoussou Guèye, “in West Africa, it is our sardinellas, in a state of overexploitation, which are in decline, transformed into flour and oil for the export, often to feed aquaculture fish in Norway, China or Turkey. While they play a key role in human nutrition, job creation, and supporting the West African economy. The current scarcity of this resource is felt at the level of the household basket, but also at the level of landing and processing sites. It is increasingly difficult for women processors to have access to this raw material”.
A situation that Mr. Gueye strongly deplored in addition to the intensive establishment of industrial aquaculture farms. Which, he says, cause artisanal fishing to lose territories at sea and on land, which it occupies for its activities. “The introduction of industrial aquaculture in highly productive areas such as lagoons, deltas, marshes, mangrove areas, destroys these ecosystems and reduces their food production capacities, preventing the exercise of traditional fishing activities” , he regretted.
Given these challenges, Caopa considers that the development of fishmeal-based aquaculture threatens the future of African coastal communities, reports “Le Quotidien”. For the president of the confederation, “feeding fish from industrial aquaculture with meal from wild fish is an industrial model that is aggravating overfishing and food insecurity in Africa”.
As for the exploitation of small pelagics for fishmeal used in aquaculture, the Director General of the National Aquaculture Agency, Dr. Téning Sène, revealed that fishermen must adhere to the development of artisanal aquaculture. , so as not to threaten artisanal fishing. However, she asked the state to regulate and control the use of these factories.