By Sailu Bah
Saihou Njie, the captain of one of the fishing boats at the Barra beach, said
the high cost of fuel now restricts the distance they cover when they go out at sea on fishing expeditions.
He said they use motor boat engines to go deeper into the sea in order to get to the areas where they can find a lot of fish. He said to go far into sea they need sufficient diesel fuel.
“I normally buy 130 litres of diesel which is about D7000 for the fishing expedition,” said Njie.
Njie said sometimes they spend such huge sums but only to come with little catch which cannot even cover the cost of fuel.
Mustapha Gaye and Demba Bah, both fishermen at Barra, also raised similar concerns regarding the impact the high cost of fuel has on their operations.
The other issue of concern to the Barra fisherfolks is regarding the problem of their fishing nets which they claim are being destroyed by trawlers at sea.
Gaye said they have been encountering this problem with the big fishing boats for a very long time but that it is getting worse now.
“When we are out at sea fishing, we always put on the signals to indicate our presence to approaching fishing trawlers but they often ignore us and run over our nets and destroy them,” Complained Gaye.
Bah called on the Government to address the problem of fishing trawlers destroying their nets with impunity.]]>
