Douala: Bad practices in fish sector reduce by 90%

Dry, fresh and smoked fish from the main production zone in Youpwe located in the Douala II municipality have witnessed 90 per cent reduction in bad practices that used to put consumers at the losing end. Fishermen used poisonous substances in order to catch more fish than usual, they also caught small-sized fishes which according to their profession is uncalled-for. Traders who bought fish for smoking used bad smoking methods and material like white wood, worn-out plastic buckets, plates and chairs, worn-out tyres and old dresses which provoked health hazards.

However, the Sub-Divisional Delegate of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industry for Douala II, Alain Ghomsi, waged a war against the bad practices by fishermen and traders, seizing and destroying huge quantities of fresh and smoked fish from perpetrators. Ghomsi and his team carried out sensitisation campaigns bringing out the negative consequences of the use of toxic products and materials to catch and smoke fish respectively. The team of veterinary doctors and sanitary inspectors went round telling all who cared to hear that the use of toxic substance destroys health, and advised them to use wood from fruit tree, dry cocoa pods, dry plantains peelings and groundnut peelings among others for smoking.

Since the rigorous sensitisation campaigns and crackdown on fishermen and vendors intensified, bad practices, according to Alain Ghomsi, has reduced by 90 per cent. To crown their efforts, the Divisional Officer for Douala II, Bakary Garba, dispatched letters of congratulations to the team March 9th. To reach a 98 per cent target, a vigilante committee involving stakeholders was created to report any suspicious act. Fishermen, smoked fish vendors and fresh fish cleaners have been identified by numbered jackets to easily trace defaulters. Following the 2000 law regulating sanitary inspection, perpetrators will pay between FCFA 50,000 and FCFA five million as fine or jailed for between two and six years with hard labour.