Participants at the Fisheries Observers Training Seminar pose for a group shot after the opening of the training at LINAFI
By Francis Tim Mbom
Some 25 staff from the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industry have undergone a 5-day training as on-board data collectors and how to comport themselves while on board fishing vessels.
The main drive of the training was to arm them with data collection skills and also to ensure they avoid embarrassing the fishermen or those on board an industrial fishing vessel when carrying out their data collection missions.
The said training that ended on Friday, July 26 at the Limbe Nautical Arts and Fisheries Institute, was aimed, principally, at providing the staff with skills to henceforth serve as onboard observers and data collectors.
The “on board program” the fisheries officials said during the opening of the training that it was responding to the high need to improve transparency in the fishing industry in Cameroon.
“The observers training program is a powerful management program tool designed to improve traceability of fishing operations by collecting biological and environmental data on board industrial fishing vessels,” the said.
The launching ceremony of this pilot phase for fishery observers marked the official step in the Government’s commitment to the preservation and sustainable management of the nation’s natural resources.
During the opening ceremony, the Director of Fishery and Aquaculture in the Ministry of Fisheries, Guy Irene Mimbang, said that the main objective of the workshop was to improve on the quality and quantity of fishery products in Cameroon.
He added that the program, which was launched in 2021 and funded by the European Union and the Food and Agricultural Organisation, FAO, has as target the large shrimps commonly called “ngambas” which are is one of the main fishery resources exported abroad from Cameroon.
“The project also aims to contribute to the upgrade strategy of the shrimps value chain,” he added.
He further added that the project has three axis with the first phase focused on sustainable fisheries. This one involves the observers program which is a management strategic tool that contributes to the traceability of fishing operations in the sea.
He, therefore, called on the owners of fishing vessels to do well to accept the observers on board their fishing vessels while reminding the observers that they are not there to control, but to collect data for scientific purposes.
Meantime the Coordinator for the FISH4ACD Programme, Pierre Nolasque Meke Soung said the Observers programme programme is a powerful management tool designed to improve traceability of fishing operations by collecting biological and environmental data onboard fishing vessels. He, therefore, urged fishing vessels owners to allow the Observer staff on board their vessels while reminding the observers that they are not there to control but simply to collect data or information.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industry, the Senior Divisional Officer for Fako, Engelbert Viang Mekala thanked the Focal Point of the program for their expertise and commitment to facilitating the boarding of observers on their industrial fishing vessels.
He said this was going to go a long way to ensure the success of the observers program.
The SDO called on the participants to take the lessons serious as it will help to step up the assessment, and encourage better decision making by the Government on the sustainable management of fishery resources.
On his part, the President of the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organisation, AMMCO, Takam Kamga Aristide said that the “Observer” program is responding to a high need of improving transparency in the fishery sector. He added that AMMCO is supporting the observers program by providing a tool called the Cyrine.
The Cyrine, he said, is an app that will permit the observers not only to collect photos but to indicate tlocations (GPS) of different observations that the observers are going to encounter as they perform their activities.
The Cyrine, he explained, has been tested to be a useful tool as artisanal fishermen were given smart phones with the app to allow them document their fishing activities in order to have the real quantity, quality and species of fish caught at the different landing sites, with special interest on the shrimps.
It is worth mentioning that the current situation of the industrial fishing sector in Cameroon shows lack of scientific data, making it difficult for government to take effective decisions for the sustainable management of the country’s fishery resources.
The “observers program” will, therefore, greatly contribute to the collection of valuable information on production, and frequency of the species caught.
Moreover, the programme will provide relevant Data for activities of fishing vessels necessary for stock assessment in a bid to guide fish management decisions.
The ten months pilot program, it was disclosed, is intended to become a regular operation in accordance with the provision of degree N0. 95/413/PM of June 1995 setting out certain conditions for the application of the fisheries as well as order N0. 0021/MINEPIA of April 11, 2022, which established the terms of reference for the inspection of industrial fishing vessels, scientific observation and monitoring of fishery activities in Cameroon.
The five-day training ended on Friday, July 26, with the award of certificates to the trained Onboard Fisheries Observers.