Fish |
Fish
was dumped in Kartong yesterday because the Gunjur and Kartong Fishing
Committees following a dispute over the sale of fish that were caught at
Kartong.
These two fishing
centres are amongst the active and most active fishing centres in The
Gambia. They are found in Kombo South District of the West Coast Region
and they have a distance of about 8 km.
This quarrel came
about when two trucks loaded with fish came from Kartong to the Gunjur
Beach to sell them to the Golden Lead Company but the Gunjur Fishermen
Committee intervened and served as obstacle to the process. The Gunjur
Committee held that the Kartong Fishermen broke a covenant that they had
signed earlier last year that there will no more be fishing at night.
The agreement according to the Gunjur Committee was signed by the
Fishing Communities of Kartong, Gunjur and Tanji in which they all
accorded that there shall be no fishing at night and the signatories
signed in the presence of some authorities as well as village heads
(Alkalo).
Fish dumped by the Kartong fisherfolks
Adama Cham, the
President of Gunjur Fishermen Association said they abnegated the
Kartong Fishermen because the covenant they signed was violated by the
'Kartong side' and they have been breaking it several times and in all
occasions they negotiated with them and allowed them to sale their fish.
He added that the Committee noticed that the Kartong Fishermen want to
take the negotiation process as a norm by repeatedly doing the things
that are against the provisions of the covenant.
"We all agreed that fishing should start at 6am and we all signed the covenant" Cham Said.
The agreement
according to the Gunjur Committee was further taken to the Ministry of
Fisheries who appended their signature on the agreement. The Committee
has a firm belief that formal agreements need to be rightly observed by
all signatories and they all concurred on penal procedure in case any
party breaches the agreement.
The Committee
further restated that the agreement was signed in order to reduce the
trend of over fishing that may bring adverse effect to the fishing
sector. They reiterated that fish in the rainy season reproduce many
offspring that also increase the number of fish in the seas and rivers.
The Gunjur
Committee believes that the uncontrolled and continuous fishing in the
sea may cause the extinction of fish in Gambia's waters. They agreed
that any fisherman who embarks on 'night fishing' will lose his catches
as it will be taken over by the committee. The committee said the
Kartong Committee has allowed Kartong fishermen to fish at a time
earlier that the app time (6am) but they were approached and promised to
stop the fishermen from such illegality.
"The Kartong
Fishing Committee failed to stop its fishermen from embarking on fishing
at a time earlier than 6am" Gunjur Committee said.
The Kartong
Fishermen, on their part said the fishermen of Gunjur cannot enforce a
law because they have been deprived from selling by their fellow
fishermen in Gunjur. They suggested that a law or an agreement should be
enforceable by the government officials such as public servants. They
reiterated that their fish have been seized several times by the Gunjur
Fishermen.
At Kartong there
was no business as fishermen desist from embarking on fishing as they
perceived that it will not generate profit as there are no readily
available buyers. Women were seen sitting with empty containers in
gloomy states due to the effect caused by the incident and fishermen
were sitting on the stalls.
The Golden Lead
Company is the main market for fishermen for both Kartong and Gunjur
fishermen as they buy in large quantity. On Tuesday, August 8, 2017, two
trucks loaded with 200 baskets were referred back to Kartong by the
Gunjur Committee accusing them that those fish caught were caught at
night. The Kartong fishermen claimed a loss of more than D58,000 (fifty
eight thousand dalasis) as they were denied by the people of Gunjur to
sell their catch. At the Kartong Beach, a ditch of about 3.5 meters deep
was dug and their fishes were dumped into it whilst many where left in
heaps on the pathways of the beach.
Fishing has been
brought to halt at Kartong and the two committees are yet to sit to
discuss a resolution. Both Committees are pointing fingers to each other
that the other side is wrong.
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