The Minister of Fisheries, Lamin Nyabally has stressed the need for concerted efforts to be put in place to avert and stop the practice of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU) in The Gambia.
The practice of IUU, he said, is a serious crime, it poses a threat to the large stocks of fish in Gambian waters.
Minister Nyabally was presiding over the opening of a five-day retreat/planning meeting on Thursday at Tendaba Camp in Kiang Central District, Lower River Region.
The Minister of Lands and Regional Government, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, NBR Governor And staff of the Fisheries Ministry among other dignitaries attended the meeting.
Minister Nyabally commended the Gambian leader, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya AJJ Jammeh, Babili Mansa for ushering in sustainable development in The Gambia.
He said President Jammeh is very supportive to his Ministry as he personally supported and continues to render assistance in terms of donation of fishing gears among others to Gambians.
He spoke at length on the significance of the planning meeting, noting that it is designed for stakeholders in the fisheries sector to come together to take stock of achievements as well as identify challenges and come up with solutions to address the challenges facing the sector.
The objective of this meeting, he added, is to pave the way towards the higher production and productivity of the fisheries sector in The Gambia.
He thanked the FAO office in Banjul for the support they are rendering to the people and Government of The Gambia saying they have a long standing relationship between them.
In his remarks, Momodou Aki Bayo, Minister of Lands and Regional Government, called on Alkalos, Chiefs and Councils within his Ministry to cooperate and collaborate with the Fisheries Ministry so as to ensure that the issue of IUU is averted in The Gambia for the benefit of the Gambian people.
Speaking on behalf of the FAO Resident Representative, Mariatou Faal-Nijie, the Deputy FAO Resident Representative in The Gambia explained that the planning meeting for stakeholders in the fisheries sector is among many of the cooperation be it technical, and financial support that FAO is rendering to the people and the Government of The Gambia in the formulation, and implementation of policies, strategies, programmes and projects in the Fisheries sector.
This, she said, is aimed at improving food security and nutrition as well as the fight to reduce poverty in a broad-based, equitable and sustainable manner in The Gambia.
This retreat, she noted, has an important assignment to ensure that the courses of actions being charted for the sector are appropriate to the country’s interest and capacities so that they will focus on addressing the generic problems confronting the fishery sector in the country.
She thanked the Government of The Gambia through the Ministry of Fisheries for the excellent relationship which FAO enjoys with its Government partners.
Salifu Puye, the Governor of the Lower River Region commended the organisers for choosing his region to host the planning meeting.
According to him, the fisheries sector creates employment opportunities and contributes towards the GDP of The Gambia hence the need for the participants to listen and participate fully throughout the whole five days sessions so as to make sure that the retreat becomes a successful event in Tendaba Camp.
2016 The Daily Observer