Bakassi fishery sector awaits major transformation

The project for the settlement of Cameroonian fishermen in the peninsula is a stitch in time with numerous advantages.

The “Call for Expression of Interest” No 0004/CEI/MINEPIA/CPC/2015 of 14th September, 2015, recently published in CT, is a vivid testimony of government’s determination to transform fishery activities in the peninsula.

Without mincing words, the objective to select, train and settle local fishermen in camps to be created in the Bakassi zone, is therefore a dream come true cognizant of the enormous fishery potentials in the peninsula.

Unfortunately, it's no secret that almost 99 per cent of fishery activities in Bakassi is monopolized in the hands of foreign fishermen, with the proceeds benefiting individuals rather than state coffers. When the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (MINEPIA) Dr. TAIGA visited Akwa (headquarters of Kombo Abedimo Subdivision) for activities marking the second edition of the Fish Festival on June 30, 2012, he disclosed that MINEPIA had allocated more than FCFA One billion through the Public Investment Budget (PIB) for investment projects.

These include the construction of cold stores and ice producing units equipped with generators, construction of improved and modern fish smoking ovens, capacity strengthening of fishing groups, construction and equipment of MINEPIA services.

While requesting for fishing to be done in a sustainable manner, he also announced that for the Second Fish Festival, the Ministry, through the Fund for the Development of Maritime Fishing (CDPM), made available equipment and materials for fishing, navigation and security worth FCFA 50 million.

Highly priced with the exploitation of fish, Fish Festivals in Bakassi, offer a display of diverse species of fresh and dry fish that the zone offers (Catfish, Mullet, Tilapia, Shine Nose, Groupa, etc).

In Bekumu (formerly Obenikang) during the Fish Festival in 2010, multi-filament fishing nets, life jackets coolers, anchors ropes, bags to transport fish, raincoats, floaters, sinkers, life buoys and hooks were provided to diverse fishing groups.

Since 2005, a Common Initiative Group (CIG) from the Far North “Association of Young Musgum Fishermen” have settled in Bamusso where they showcase their know-how in fishing lobsters for sale, mostly in Douala.

Though Government has invested much to encourage the fishery sector, some fishermen complain that they don’t have markets. And, that it is a difficult maritime area where movement on land and sea is very expensive.