Decline in catches as Gambia grapples with illegal fishing

The fisheries sector has also seen significantly dwindling earnings for fishermen and traders.  “There is no fish in the waters…,” he said. “We used to catch up to 90 trays (a tray carries 50kg of fish) of sardinella a day and now we barely get 5 trays a day.” Touray owns a boat since 2009. “Our catches used to be good,” said Eliman Jammeh, a father of 4, who owns two boats operating in Gunjur— a coastal fishing community an hour drive from Banjul. Jammeh started going to sea in 1988. “On a good day before—say early 2000s— one can catch up to...