Management and Development of Fisheries in the Eastern Central Atlantic

Abstract

The resources of the eastern central Atlantic can be divided into two parts: the northern, temperate or subtropical zone in an area where cool upwelling water gives high production of pelagic species like the sardine, sardinella, mackerel, and horsemackerel, and of demersal species like the various sea breams, hake, and several species of cephalopods; the tropical zone, roughly from Cape Verde southward, is less rich although it contains a great variety of species.Distribution of human population and of potential local markets is uneven, the greater part being in the tropical area. Except for the sardine and other fisheries of Morocco, the main locally based fisheries have been in this region. Until recently there have been mostly small inshore canoe fisheries, but the rich upwelling areas have been a strong attraction for fishermen from outside the region. These have included trawl fishermen from southern Europe, mainly interested in high-value species such as sea bream; Japanese fishermen interested in these same species and in squid, octopuses, and cuttlefish; fishermen from eastern Europe, using trawls (later purse seines) for pelagic species such as mackerel and horsemackerel; and fishermen from Scandinavia and South Africa, catching pelagic fishes, particularly sardinellas, for reduction to fish meal. Local countries have been developing their fleets; in the tropical area these include large long-range vessels for operating in the richer areas to the north and also to the south in the Benguela current.Several stocks in the region have become or are becoming heavily exploited. Necessary management action includes collecting and analyzing the basic data to assess the stocks, limiting the total amount of fishing to the level appropriate to each stock, and assuring an increasing participation in the offshore fisheries by coastal African countries.There is clearly a need for bilateral or multilateral arrangements between countries in the zone of high human population but low fish production and countries in the more productive but less populated zone. This would benefit both groups and stimulate intra-African trade and cooperation.