Fisheries Minister Musa Drammeh told The Standard that the upcoming review of the license fees for fishing vessels and fish meal factories operating in the nation has been approved by the cabinet.

Thousands of Gambians continue to lose their livelihoods due to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing practices, which are allegedly supported by foreign fishing vessels and fish meal factories.

China Daily found that nine out of ten Gambian fishing vessels are foreign-owned. Gambia has signed agreements with Senegal and the EU, allowing EU vessels to fish tuna and hake. Experts attribute fish depletion, exploitation, and unregulated fishing to weak policies and a lack of oversight.

Finance Minister Seedy Keita highlighted the increasing challenges faced by the fisheries sector, including habitat degradation, overexploitation, climate change, COVID-19, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Ministry of Fisheries is reviewing the Fisheries Act 2007 and its implementing Regulations 2008 to address these issues.

The Ministry of Justice is finalizing a law to implement new proposals, while Fisheries Minister Musa Drammeh suggests increasing licensing fees for vessels and fish meal companies due to outdated regulations.

“We propose raising the license costs. We need to boost our revenue, so it’s time to renew them because they are getting rather old,” Drammeh continued.

“The review process is not complete, so I cannot share it with the newspapers,” he said in response to a question about the amount the government plans to increase.