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THE REPUBLIC OF GUINEA-BISSAU
GENERAL ECONOMIC DATA
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36 125 km˛ |
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Continental
shelf: |
45 000 km² |
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Length
of Coastline (excludes the oceanic islands): |
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1 173 000 |
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Gross Domestic Product (1999, current): |
US$ 218.3 million |
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Agriculture GDP (1999): |
US$
136 million |
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GDP per caput (1999): |
US$ 182 |
FISHERIES DATA
Commodity
balance (1999)1:
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Production |
Imports |
Exports |
Total Supply |
Per Caput Supply |
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'000 tons liveweight equivalent |
kg/year |
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5.0 |
0.523 |
3.116 |
2.407 |
2.1 |
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- |
- |
- |
- |
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Estimated Employment (1999, estimated): |
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(i) Primary sector: |
more than 1 200 |
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(ii) Secondary sector: |
more than 15 000 |
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Gross
value of the fishing production (1999): |
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Trade (1999): |
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US$ 0.487 million |
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INDUSTRY STRUCTURES AND CHARACTERISTICS
Marine
fisheries
There
are two classes of fisheries in Guinea-Bissau :
-
artisanal fisheries (up to 60 HP)
- industrial
fisheries(more than 100 HP).
Both
foreign and national vessels operate in the country.
According to the official statistical data about the artisanal sector,
there are 107 fishing vessels in the archipelago, 29 of which are motorized.
Most of them are "monoxile" type, that is, the traditional type.
73 percent of the vessels without motors are rowing boats. There are approximately
107 ship owners and 1125 fishermen. In 1996, fishing was the main activity
of about 18 percent of the total number of fishermen, while agriculture
occupied 78 percent and 4 percent were in the remaining activities. About
90 percent of the fishermen are from Guinea producing 44 percent of the
total catch and 9 percent are foreigners, producing 56 percent. This difference
is mainly due to two factors: the lack of fishing materials and the lower
efficiency of the Guinea-Bissau fishermen.
The estimated maximum catch of artisanal fisheries in 1997 was 5 400 tons. About 35 percent of the landings are of first and second quality fishes, big and small demersals, pelagics and shrimps. In some areas, the abundance of sharks are a sign that there is no over exploitation and therefore, there is a possibility of increasing the catch.
Industrial fisheries are mainly done by foreign vessels which pay the corresponding quotas or licences. There are two freezing vessels that belong to the China/Guinea-Bissau joint project.
The industrial foreign fisheries catches reached 33 000 tons in 1997, while the number of vessels increased from 97 to 113, respectively. This decrease in production, is supposed to be related to the reduction of number of fishing hours from 340.200 hours in 1995 to 191.869 hours in 1997. Statistics only registered the vessels with licences, which means that the information on catches of the vessels without licence, is lacking.
Continental fisheries and fish farming
It has been estimated that 4 percent of the artisanal catch comes from continental waters and is mainly done by women and youngsters who fish without vessels. Frequently their products are included in the commercial circuit.
Fish farming is incipient in the country. Its implementation is gradual, because some experiments had no satisfactory results. There are some requests of foreigners to invest in this area.
Utilization of the catch
Fish is commercialized by the State and by national and international enterprises. About 90 percent of the artisanal fisheries catch is conserved on ice and commercialized by women, being the remaining processed. Basically, there are three types of fish processing :
(a) smoked (mainly in the south of the country); (b) salted (fermentation before dried, in the north) and (c) dried.
The market is quite well supplied. The exportation for the neighbour countries (Guinea-Conakry, Senegal, Ghana, Sierra-Leone and Mali) is not registered because there are no available means to do it. Frozen products, shrimps and fish are exported to Europe by air mail. Imports are limited to some processed species (smoked or dried) of high quality, consumed by foreigners living in Guinea-Bissau.
Situation
of the industry
At
present, there are 3 instalations with refrigeration; one, belonging to
the China/ Guinea-Bissau joint project and two belonging to the State
(Bubaque y Guialp). Three refrigerators (of Bolola, Bolama and Cacheu)
belonging to the State are not working. None of the instalations obeys
to the Comunity minimum standard health conditions.
The economic role of the industries
More than 15 thousand persons work in fish processing and commercialization. According to the National Institute of Statistics, the contribution of the industry to the GDP is 15,8 percent while fisheries represents only 3.7 percent. All the fisheries sectors contribute with more than 40 percent to the total State budget.
DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS
The disponibility of the Guinea-Bissau EEZ, counting on the available fishery resources and the present state of exploitation of these units, can be resumed as follows: The coastal shrimps have an available potential yield of 2 800 to 3000 tons, depending on the recruitment level. At the present, the resources are exploited, but there is no danger of a lasting over exploitation, considering its reproduction cycle. The species of the sandy bottom of the continental shelf have an available potential yield of 5 000 to 8 000 tons. At present, the resources are heavly exploited; The species of rocky bottom of the continental shelf go from 5 000 to 20 000 tons. There is a tendency for the over exploitation of these resources. The disponibility of cephalopods is 5 500 to 8 000 tons, depending on the recruitment level. These species show a great resistance to over exploitation. The potential yield of deep waters are of 1 200 to 1 700 tons of shrimps. The state of the exploitation depends on the foreign vessel owners who work in several EEZs; The bottom sparidae present a potential yield of 5000 tons. At present, the resource is under exploited. The available potential of small pelagics is more than 100 000 tons per fishing season. The exploitation level of these migrating species depends on the catches outside the Guinea-Bissau EEZ. The global fishing effort, can increase in artisanal fisheries, with the possibility of increasing in the small pelagics industrial fishery. The obstacles to Guinea-Bissau fisheries development still exist.
RESEARCH
The mid-level technicians working in the Centro de Investigação Pesqueira Aplicada (CIPA) have no possibility to increase or update their knowledge. For what concerns research, the Center has signed several agreements with other international Centers or Institutes (IPIMAR in Portugal, CNSHB in Conakry, CNROP in Mauritania, CRODT in Senegal and NDP in Cape-Vert). The agreement with Portugal includes joint research and the technical formation of the personnel of the Center.
COOPERATION
At present
Guinea-Bissau signed agreements with the European Economic Community (EU), Senegal, Conapemac (Marine Fisheries National Cooperation of the Republic of China), Ivory Coast and with the Fisheries Sub-regional Commission. The 1997 agreement with the EU, has a duration of 4 years. The contribution for this period is 34 000 000 ECU, divided into four fractions of 8 500 000 ECU a year. This agreement is still valid. The Community also contributes with 300 000 ECU for the activities of the Centro de Investigação de Bissau (CIPA). The funding of the UICN and of the Banco Africano (African Bank) for the development of artisanal fisheries are also still valid.
Future
During the period of the agreement, the European Economic Community will offer to Guinea-Bissau, grants for studies and practical formation in several technical and economical matters related to fisheries. The total cost cannot be higher than 400 000 ECU, but it can, by request to the country's authorities, be converted into expenses for international meetings, training courses or seminars, in the domain of fisheries.
INTERNET LINKS
The most important points and the internet address of the national fishing institutions are: FAO Bissau and the UICN (E-mail: UICN@sol.racsa.co.cr).
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