ROBERTSPORT, Liberia — “We depend only on the sea for our survival. How will we manage when the sea is closed?” Mamie Freeman was seated atop a beached canoe in Robertsport, a bustling fishing community in western Liberia. She glanced occasionally at her fellow fishmongers, who were busy packing up the fish they’d just purchased. She was worried about a government plan to implement a close season for fishing. No fishing for a portion of the year would mean no catch, no fish for her to sell, and no way to support her family. Mamie, whose fiancé is a fisher, had relocated to Robertsport due to low catch in the capital, Monrovia, where she used to live. She said she uses the proceeds from selling fish to provide for her eight children, including their medical, school, shelter and other needs. Any suspension of income, however temporary, could be devastating for the family’s thin finances. Close (or closed) seasons legally prohibit fishing activities during specific times of the year, either for particular species or gear types, or across the board. They’re a standard fisheries management tool to reduce the effect of overfishing and allow fish stocks to replenish. But the news of plans to implement the measure in Liberia, which the government revealed in May, has caused consternation within the country’s small-scale fishing sector. Since then, the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA), Liberia’s fisheries regulator, has released no further details about the rollout of the plan, leaving the public with…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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South Africa Today – Environment
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