3. DESCRIPTION OF FISHERIES

The marine fisheries of Sierra Leone are divided into two major sectors:

1. the artisanal fishery operating in estuaries and inshore waters and extending from the shoreline to a depth of 20–40 m;

2. the industrial fishery, supposedly operating in the open deeper waters, and whose fleets include trawlers, shrimpers, purse seiners as well as carriers and motherships.

3.1 Fishing Grounds and Fish Landing Sites

The western tip of Sherbro Island delimits two contrasting coastal waters. The coastal sector north of Sherbro Island is more productive than the southern sector bordering with Liberia. Most of the artisanal fishing activities occur around the estuaries of Scarcies River, Sierra Leone River and Sherbro River, and also around Yauoni Bay. The industrial fishing fleets mostly operate in deeper waters of the northern sector. The main shrimping and trawling areas are Melakori (near the Guinea/Sierra Leone border), Banana Island, Sherbro Island, Denga and Sulima, which are indicated in Figure 3.

There are a number of fish landing sites along the Sierra Leone coast. Port Loko and the Western Area districts have more landing sites which are sampled for artisanal fish catches. According to the records of the Fisheries Division (Freetown), the following fish landing sites were sampled in 1983:

3.2 Fishing Vessels and Gear

There are three principal types of artisanal fishing units:

1. the Kru's dug-out canoes (less than 6-m long and about 60 cm moulded depth) usually with one man operating handlines, cast nets and gillnets;

2. standard canoe with a crew of 1–3 men or 3–5 men; and

3. Ghana-type canoe (either dug-out or planked) with a length of about 12 m.

3.2.1 Canoes and fishing gear in the artisanal sector

The ‘Kru’ canoes have sails or paddles whereas the standard and Ghana-type canoes are equipped with side-mounted outboard engines of 10–15 hp. The distribution of various types of canoes along the coast and the number of outboard engines per district are shown in Table 3.

The multispecies inshore fisheries of Sierra Leone are exploited with a wide variety of gears: cast nets, ring nets, drift nets, beach seines, set gillnets and hooks on lines. The distribution of artisanal fishing gears along the coast is given in Table 4.

The rate of fishing activities of the artisanal fishermen are influenced by the season and the type of fishing craft used. Fishermen employing the dug-out ‘Kru’ canoe cannot operate during the period of rough sea conditions. Besides, seasonal changes in catch rates can force some canoe fishermen to stop fishing temporarily. Hence, there are full-time and part-time fishermen as indicated in Table 5.

Figure 3 Major trawling and shrimping grounds on the continental shelf of Sierra Leone

3.2.2 Vessel types and fishing gear for the industrial sector

The structure of the industrial fishery of Sierra Leone has changed considerably since the mid-1970s. The fishing effort of the industrial fleet increased slowly from 1955 (when Italians introduced trawling in Sierra Leone waters) to the mid-1970s. But there is evidence of a dramatic increase in fishing effort between 1979 and 1985. In 1979, for example, fishing licences were issued to 178 vessels consisting of 10 factory ships (motherships), 97 trawlers, 33 purse seiners, 35 shrimpers, 4 liners and one research vessel. There is no reliable information on the number of vessels which actually fished that year and on the duration of fishing. The nationality of vessels was as follows: Soviet (88), Liberian (16, Korean (16), Senegalese (13), Sierra Leonean (9), Greek (8), Ghanaian (7), Panamaian (6) and Italian (6).

It has, however, been reported that from the early 1980s, there has been a reduction in the number of foreign vessels fishing in Sierra Leone waters. Reported changes in the Soviet fleet are shown in Table 6.

In addition to the Soviet fleet, there are other industrial fishing companies operating in Sierra Leone waters, namely Okeky Agencies, Siddly Agencies, Mazer Sea Food, Patience Fisheries, M.O. Wilson Sons and Partners, Djoliba General Merchandise and Maryland Fishing Company. These fishing companies have different boats, which are shown in Table 7.

^a 1974–6 150 canoes; 1975–6 382 canoes; 1976–6 334 canoes; 1977–6 730 canoes; 1978–6 818 canoes;1979–6 896 canoes; 1980–6 998 canoes; 1981–7 074 canoes

^b Pujehun is under inland fisheries administration

^a Pujehun is under inland fisheries administration

3.3 Artisanal Fisheries

The coastal sector where the artisanal fishermen land their catch consists of the following districts: Kampia, Port Loko, Western Area, Moyamba, Bonthe and Pujehun. There are a number of important, large fish-landing villages with more than 50 canoes; for example, Yelibuya, Gbankapia, Kortimaw, Lungi, Konakridi, Tombo, Goderich, Plantain Island and Tisana. Available data on catches and fishing effort indicate higher catch rates in the Western Area, Moyamba and Port Loko districts. This could be due to greater availability of pelagic fish stocks, accessibility of nearby good fishing grounds and socio-economic factors.

The catch of the artisanal fisheries mainly consists of small pelagic species (Sardinella and Ethmalosa). The artisanal catch accounts for about 90% of the total national marine fish landings.

The artisanal fishery sector is characterized by the following types of canoes: (a) small dug-out canoes (Kru) 4–6 m long; (b) the standard planked canoes (Ghana type) 6–10 m long; and (c) the “herring” boats which are 10–20 m long and usually having a crew of 12 persons.

There are about 18 000 artisanal fishermen operating a total of about 7 000 dug-out and planked Ghana-type canoes, of which about 700 are equipped with outboard engines of 8–40 hp. In 1982, the total marine fish production for the artisanal sector was put at about 35 000 t, of which more than 70% consisted of small coastal pelagic species.

3.4 Industrial Fisheries

The industrial fisheries mainly exploit demersal stocks and shrimp. There are only incidential by-catches of pelagics in trawl fishery. The industrial fishing fleet consists of trawlers, shrimpers, purse seiners and motherships. It is somewhat difficult to describe clearly the evolution of the industrial fishing fleet in Sierra Leone. The increase in foreign fishing vessels has been remarkable since 1978. At present some companies have their vessels registered locally, but others have joint venture agreements with owners of foreign-registered and foreign-based vesels. Foreign vessels are charged licence fees per GRT depending on whether they fish for finfish or shellfish. The nationalities of fishing vessels operating in Sierra Leone waters include Soviet, Senegalese, Spanish, Sierra Leonean, Ghanaian, Italian, Greek, Liberian, etc. Considering licence fees in other CECAF areas, the authors are of the opinion that the fees charged by Sierra Leone are low.

Since 1981, efforts have been made to increase the capacity of the national industrial fleet. Sierra Fishing Company (SFC) has now 17 vessels consisting of 15 shrimpers and two finfish trawlers. A number of foreign vessels are licensed to fish in Sierra Leone waters provided Sierra Fishing Company has a 12% share of the catch. A list of the national and foreign vessels which fished under special agreement with SFC in 1983 is given in Appendix 3.

The shareholders of SFC are: the Government of Sierra Leone (25%), the National Development Bank (10%), a Franco-Soviet company (SociétéFRANSOV) (20%) and private Sierra Leone enterpreneurs (45%). There is a long-term agreement between the Government of Sierra Leone and the USSR. Under this agreement, USSR is providing technical and economic assistance in conducting scientific surveys and stock assessment; in the training of Sierra Leone specialists in the USSR and on board the Soviet fishing vessels; and through the development of national fisheries, in the catching and processing of fish. The Government of Sierra Leone ensures the provision of shore services for the Soviet fleet and allows access of Soviet vessels to Sierra Leone's EEZ. The number and types of vessels are determined under a separate agreement on a yearly basis between the Sierra Fishing Company and FRANSOV. It is reported that in 1983 about 24 Soviet vessels were fishing (out of an agreed maximum number of 51 vessels, including motherships and processing vessels) with an estimated production of 65 000 t, out of which about 12% or 8 000 t were sold domestically. An assessment of the country's net benefits from the operation of the Soviet fleet is quite difficult to make because the detailed terms are negotiated between the SFC and FRANSOV whereas the latter is a shareholder of SFC and SFC itself is heavily controlled by private interests. The country benefits directly from the licence fees and royalties which are being paid in local currency (Le 700 000 in 1983), from the 12% of the fish catch which has to be sold locally and by the employment and incomes created for national employees.

Apart from the fish supplies by Soviet fishing vessels, SFC is also processing and marketing both for the internal market and for export of some catches of their own shrimp and finfish trawlers. In 1983, SFC operated 16 trawlers which caught 2 000 t of finfish and about 1 200 t of shrimp. Nearly all the shrimp landings were exported while a part of the finfish catch was marketed locally.

3.5 Industrial Shrimp Fishery

There are several fishing grounds for shrimp around the estuaries of the following rivers: Sherbro, Sierra Leone, Moa, Scarcies, Sulema, Sewa and Panifana. Thus the good shrimping grounds are off the Freetown Peninsula, Banana Island (Yawri Bay) and Bullom/Turners Peninsula. Penaeus notialis occurs in more inshore waters whereas Parapenaeopsis atlantica tends to be confined in depths of 40–70 m. The average annual catch of shrimp for the period 1971–82 is about 600 t. But, considering the circumstances of the shrimp fishery in this country, the average annual production figure might be underestimated. A total annual shrimp catch of 1 000 t is easily feasible.

Shrimpers from Liberia and Sierra Leone exploit the same shrimp stocks. In 1983, SFC caught about 1 100 t of shrimp (head-on). The reported total catch of shrimp for Sierra Leone in 1983 was over 1 800 t compared with about 1 100 t in 1980. The average catch per vessel in 1983 was about 75 t (head-on). It is possible that the shrimp resources are still moderately exploited. Garcia and Lhomme (1980) estimated the cpue at MSY to be 13.9 kg/h, but in 1983 the average cpue was about 25 kg/h and the total effort was 73 000 h.

The best shrimping season is between April and September, during which about two thirds of the total catch is landed. This period is marked with heavy rainfalls and large catches of small-sized shrimps. About three quarters of the recruitment into the shrimp fishery takes place during this period. Definite recruitment peaks are in April and May, but this may shift from year to year depending on the onset of the monsoon period.

The shrimp fishery of Sierra Leone is dominated by two fishing companies: Sierra Fishing Company (which in 1983 landed 1 180 t head-on) and Marine Development Company with 10 shrimp trawlers (which in 1983 landed about 640 t head-on). All the vessels are of the USA-Gulf of Mexico double-rigged trawler type. The vessels are 23–26 m long and their GRT ranges from 80 to 130.