A list of future tasks was drawn up based on a review in the CECAF Statistical Bulletin (FAO, 1979c) of the available data by country and by region.
This essential item is systematically reiterated, and yet the group feels it necessary to again stress its absolute priority. To achieve the desired statistical improvement, each country must take action which we will now try to define in terms of the local context.
Liberia
The catches indicated in the annexed national report are possibly underestimated, since a portion may be landed in Sierra Leone. Verification of this and perhaps the amounts involved should be worked out in collaboration with the Freetown Fisheries Division.
There are some inconsistencies in the “Fishing days” section of the effort series. This should be checked.
Finfish by-catches by shrimps from the Continental Sea Foods Company should be distinguished from catches landed intentionally by the Mesurado Company if they are to be utilized in calculating cpue.
Sierra Leone
Much progress has been made. The effort should be encouraged and continued. Special attention now has to be devoted to getting catch statistics from the foreign flag vessels (Ghana, Italy, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Spain) and monitoring the quality of the data in the logbooks of the Soviet fleet.
Guinea
Two important obstacles have to be overcome:
To obtain the total catch statistics from the Soviet fleets (and data on actual effort) since without them no evaluation of the Guinea potential is possible.
To obtain a series of annual efforts for the national fleets (catches are available for a number of years) making it possible to prepare a series of cpue for a preliminary analysis of abundance trends in recent years. Given the irregular operations of the fleet, it would be useful to express this in number of days at sea, fishing days or amount of fuel consumed.
Guinea-Bissau
Everything remains to be done - particularly the establishment of a fishery statistics data-gathering system in the field.
Senegal
An attempt to improve evaluation of the effort applied to each target species is under-way; it is to continue through 1980.
Sherbro Division
The summary of available data (Appendix 10)gives as priority statistical targets: Italy, Spain, Republic of Korea, Portugal and Japan.
Cape Verde Division
As Appendix 6 shows, some estimate of the Soviet catches was possible by making certain assumptions, but problems remain - particularly for the Ghana catch (not submitted) and for the Portuguese, Greek and Korean catches (no locations given). Special care should be taken to obtain Korean statistics by tonnage (Appendix 13).
General Recommendations
It would be highly desirable to train national monitors to help keep logbooks, take samples, evaluate discards and measure mesh sizes used onboard trawlers.
The cpue variations in the Sherbro division already described may be indicative of a major phenomenon. It would therefore be desirable that the countries concerned analyse these variations and monitor with particular care changes in mesh sizes used and sizes of species caught.
A great deal of work has been done in Congo on fisheries management of the sciaenid community, particularly on mesh size regulation. These data can be used by other countries.
Senegal, however, is in the best position to do similar work on the coastal sparid community and it is hoped that a special effort will be made in this direction.
The evolving of a methodology to gather and process data from exploratory trawler surveys must be accelerated. The planned Senegal study could be used as a proving ground.
It is not sure that present exploitation is either sufficient or optimal. Possibilities for expanding exploitation of deep-water stocks outward towards the slope and drop-off should be analysed. In particular, it would be desirable for Spain, which has done a lot of this kind of fishing in certain sectors, to transmit whatever data it possesses. Senegal has certain data and will analyse them in 1980.
