Fishermen and fish vendors in Tanjie have appealed to the Government of The Gambia to help them with storage facilities for the preservation of their fishes.
Tanjie, a village in Kombo South District in the West Coast Region is a hub for fisheries businesses; however, dealers in the sector told The Voice over the weekend that they have been experiencing massive losses due to inadequate preservation facilities.
Mr. Jakaria Sowe, a Fish Vendor and a resident of Serrekunda said there difficulties dwell on the lack of storage facilities. The ice block processed by the Ice Plant cannot serve all the people which result to “big losses” in our business.
“I am appealing to the government to help us with storage facilities in order to reduce the perishing of fishes,” he said.
According to him, Tanjie Community Ice Plant sells a kilo of ice block at D5 and a private ice plant sells at D3 but this is not enough to serve them all.
Mr. Haruna Puye, a Tanjie Fisherman said sometimes they make huge harvests only to find out that the Ice Plants have run short of ice block and vendors will be reluctant to buy their catch. “This is a huge loss for us,” he lamented. “We want more storage facilities to be built at the Tanjie Fishing Centre for the preservation of fishes, to reduce the waste and losses.”
On safety and security, he said the Tanjie Fishing Community has put in place policies which he described as “very good”. He said every individual going out to thresh the ocean’s harvest must have life jacket for safety precautions.
Another fisherman, Musa Sarr said their situation is “very frustrating and discouraging” as they depend solely on fish proceeds to feed their families and take care of other household obligations.
Fatou Drammeh, a Fish Vendor from Brikama said preservation and transportation to Brikama remains her biggest challenge. The unlisted fish trader said she got harassed for selling at the Tanjie Beach for not being registered in the Tanjie community of fish sellers. “Sometimes they will derive me from the beach and ask me not to sell. This also affects my sales,” Mrs. Drammeh lamented. “I will try and register with the Tanjie Community in order to be free from this harassment.” Source - The Voice
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