NEPAD's Proposals for Increased Fisheries Production in Cameroon

The Regional Commission of Fisheries of the Gulf of Guinea, (COREP), a planning and coordination unit of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) has carried out a study which if fully implemented, Cameroon could be fetching as much as FCFA 19.7 billion annually from fish production. The study contained in a document highlighting the current economic value of the fisheries sector in Cameroon was presented to the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, Dr Taiga, last Friday September 28 by the COREP's Executive Secretary, Emile Essema.

The four-part study comprises the potential of the sector, its contribution to wealth creation, budgetary approaches to the sector and what it can fetch for the State coffers. The study shows that averagely FCFA 162 million comes into the State coffers from fishing licenses, taxes from veterinary inspection of fish among others. But the amount has dwindled since exportation of crayfish to countries of the European Union was prohibited. In a speech, Mr Essema said the secretariat of NEPAD avails itself to assist member countries to attain set objectives in boosting fish production. "Do not hesitate to address to the Executive Secretary of NEPAD, copying its agency and COREP, priority projects that have not been executed for want of money," he told Dr. Taiga. According to Dr. Sloans Chimatiro, Senior Fisheries Advisor, NEPAD Agency, fish is a renewable resource. "If you take care of it, it can grow and give you more fish and money. In the document, we have determined what the value of fish is today and in the future. Fish is like money in the bank which can yield interest. As a country, there is money that you can eat today but there is also fish that if you can take care of, it is going to continue to produce more money, more fish and more food that you can eat in the future. For us to do that, we need to make sure that we manage the fish very well," he said.

To Dr. Taiga, the study constitutes a base and is a strong contribution to government's drive to reducing as much as possible the incessant importation of fish which does not only drain the State of limited liquidity but worsens the country's already negative trade balance as well. The Minister disclosed that fish production in the country currently stands at 156,800 metric tonnes but falls far below demand. In 2010 for example, he said, government imported 150,000 metric tonnes of fish and 195,000 metric tonnes in 2011 for as much as FCFA 100 billion. "It is absolutely necessary to reverse the trend and we will make optimal use of study to do that," Dr Taiga said.