Kaolack, January 18 (APS) – The president of the central fish market of Kaolack (center), Atou Ndiaye, pleads for the erection of a police station near this place of commerce to ensure the safety of its users and of their property.
“We welcome the good collaboration between the management committee and the municipality through the administration of the central fish market, but ask the public authorities to erect a police station to ensure the safety of people and property” , he said.
Atou Ndiaye, also coordinator of the Local Artisanal Fishing Council (CLPA) of the Kaolack department, made this plea on Saturday during the passage of the awareness caravan for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and inclusive fishing, at the initiative of the National Coalition for Sustainable Fishing (CONAPED).
Saying he was “very concerned” about the insecurity that reigns in this market supplying fish to others in Senegal and the sub-region, he insisted on the need to sensitize the Senegalese authorities on the need to provide this place with business of a police station.
The president of the National Union of Fishmongers of Senegal (UNAMS), Pape Ibrahima Diaw, noted that the fishing sector is facing a “real problem” in Kaolack, due to the high salinization negatively impacting the evolution and the reproduction of fishery resources, thus contributing to the degradation of the marine and coastal ecosystem.
“We must work together, tirelessly, with the involvement of everyone, to achieve responsible and sustainable management of the resource. We must not wait for the State when it really comes to promoting impeccable practices,” said Mr. Diaw, also in charge of external relations for the management committee of the Kaolack central fish market.
He deplored the capture of juveniles by certain fishermen and called on fishmongers, micro-fishmongers and other women processors not to buy fish whose capture is prohibited by the competent services of the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime and Port Infrastructure.
-Welcoming the commitment and strong mobilization of the members of his coalition, the president of the National Coalition for Sustainable Fishing, Malick Fall, recalled that “the sea is a national heritage” that must be preserved with its resources.
“Everyone, not just those involved in fishing, must work tirelessly to move towards better preservation of this heritage that constitutes the sea”, especially since “fisheries resources contribute to the food security of populations”, a launched Mr. Fall, also president of the National Interprofessional Council for Artisanal Fishing in Senegal (CONIPAS).
Amy Diouf, member of the National Coalition to Fight Against the Establishment of Fish Meal and Fish Oil Factories in Senegal, agreed. “We cannot establish a good policy in the management of a fishery that is profitable for all, if our fishermen continue to catch juvenile fish,” she argued.
According to the head of the health control office of the central fish market of Kaolack, Diène Diouf, the National Coalition for Sustainable Fishing came at its right time but it must work more by putting in place strategies to promote responsible fishing practices for the sustainability of the resource.
ADE/BK/SBS
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