By Monrovia, Liberia- Government of Liberia through the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority NAFAA and the Kingdom of Morocco through its Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development,water and forestry have Commissioned a Research vessel name and style R/V AL HASSAN AL_MARRAKCHI aimed at assessing Liberia’s fish stock.
Speaking at the Commissioning ceremony at the Bong Mines Pieer on Friday January 26, 2024, the Director General of The National Fisheries Aquaculture Authority madam Emma Glasco said the lack of scientific data has undermine the performance of Liberia fisheries sector over the years as it’s a critical factor in informing management decision and attracting potential investment especially from the private sector.
The NAFAA Boss lamented that initiative is timely as Liberia seeks to industrialized it’s fishing sector to provide Socio_ Economic growth to it’s populations like most of it’s sisters countries.
Madam Glasco narrated that since the post war Era the fishing sector has been characterized by substance and artisanal fishing activities which yield less returns to the country as compare to other fishing nations.
She futhere that the fish Stock Assessment exercises is basically an activity which seeks to collect information on the abudance and distribution of various kinds of fish species within our Waters in terms of it’s commercial value and ecological importance.
“Our efforts are to guarantee that everything are counts including that taxonomy of the fish Stock,the breeding ground,the biomass, habits and distribution of the stocks across our coast line.” she noted
The NAFA Head at the same time disclosed that Monrovia was selected through a competitive process by (ATLAFCO)through funding provided from the Japanese Government the Ministerstral conference on fisheries cooperation Among Africa states Boarding the Atlantic Ocean to form part of countries selected for the conduct of this comprehensive research assessment, a cost intensive initiative, with technical support from the Moroccan government through its research institute National De Recherche Halieutigu (INRH) as well as their technical expertise for accurate reporting and the used of their new state of the art research vessel.
For his Part the Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development water and Forest Kingdom of Morocco Mohammed Sadiki has described the partnership of the both countries as a scientific movement.
By: Domingo Dargbeh
