Fishermen across the country will shortly begin increasing their catches from sea and flood the local markets with fish and fishery productions as the CDC-led government has begun the distribution of free outboard engines donated by the government and people of Japan.
The free outboard engines distribution is currently affecting paddling canoe fishermen, established into fishery cooperatives by the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA), in collaboration with Cooperative Development Agency (CDA).
The fishery cooperatives, which comprise of fishermen, canoe owners, fish processors, fish sellers, safeguards and other fishing community residents/dwellers, are drawn from the nine coastal counties of Liberia, where fishing activities are on the increase.
President George Manneh Weah began the distribution of the first batch of outboard engines on Saturday, October 23, 2021 at a well-attended grand launch on the Fairground, near the Unification Pavilion, Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. 23 fishery cooperatives from different landing sites benefitted from the distribution.
Making the presentation at the Fairground, President Weah declared that the donation, which is first of its kind, was his government’s assistance to Liberian fishermen across the country.
President Weah, who reminded the fishermen that he is a “talk and do” President, termed the donation as a promise fulfilled. It can be recalled that in 2019 a Liberian delegation, headed by President Weah, visited Japan and negotiated among other things assistance for the overall development of the Liberian fishery sector.
Following the return of the delegation, which had several other discussions with the Japanese government, fishermen were informed of a pending free outboard engine distribution across the nine coastal counties. The outboard engines were anticipated in 2020 but they were delayed due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected the production of the engines.
Presenting an overview of the project, the Director General of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture, (NaFAA), Emma Metieh Glassco, described the distribution ceremony as an intervention by H.E President George Weah intended to take the paddle canoes fishermen from paddle to engine. This, she said, provides hope and empowers local Liberian fishermen and puts them in a position to compete with their foreign counterparts.
Glassco stated, “We can now boldly say, in the words of my President, H.E George Mannah Weah, that the fishermen of Liberia shall never be spectators in their own economy, but active players.”
Briefing President Weah and a host of government ministers, members of the Legislature, including the Speaker of the House and the Senate Chair on Agriculture, members of the fishing community, Glassco said, “In keeping with the overall goal of this initiative, which is to boost fish production, increase local fishers’ daily earnings and supply the dietary protein needs of the Liberian population through the transitioning process of Paddle to Canoe Initiative, this distribution shall affect fishing cooperatives from all nine coastal counties of Liberia.”
At the same time, Glassco disclosed that the cooperatives are harmonized framework comprising of all actors in the sector, including fishermen, canoe owners, fish processors, fish sellers, safeguards and other fishing communities and residents. The fishery expert stated that the concept of giving the outboard machines to fishery cooperatives, instead of individual fisher folks, will ensure accountability and effective monitoring to measure the impact of this initiative over time, and to identify other areas of arising needs.
She indicated that, at the national level the initiative of transitioning 600 paddling canoes to motorized canoes will go a long way in narrowing Liberia’s import-export fish deficit gap of 33,000 metric tons per annum, while increasing Liberians net per capita fish consumption, which currently stands at 9.49kg, compared to the global per capita fish consumption of 23.5Kg.
Moreover, Glassco explained the challenges being encountered in the Liberian fishery sector, disclosing that “it’s been a long and challenging journey, especially addressing plight of the masses of the fishery workforce, which constitutes vast majority of Liberia’s population, given that Liberia is endowed with water bodies of which fishing is a customary practice and traditional cultural norm of the society”.
Disclosing how the outboard engines initiative came about, the NaFAA boss revealed that, in densely populated rural coastal areas, such as Grand Bassa, Maryland and Cape Mount counties, which lack job opportunities, fishing provides alternative livelihood opportunities for their respective population. “It was on this basis that we were able to present a strong case to our development partners for support, considering that the full potential of the wealth of aquatic fish resources Liberia possesses is yet to harness,” she explained.
Additionally, she indicated, “Today’s occasion is one of the benefits accrued from the President’s Visit to Japan in August 2019 to attend the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7 Summit). Our President, during his interaction with the Japanese authority, presented fishery as one of Liberia’s priorities for economic growth. She noted that this was after they previously engaged the Japanese Regional Office on possible interventions from the government of Japan for support to Liberia’s fishery sector, considering Japan’s longstanding bilateral relationship with Liberia, evidenced by the road infrastructure projects they have supported.
“I remember vividly at the regional fisheries ministerial meeting, organized by ATLAFCO (Africa Ministerial Committee on Fisheries Boarding the Atlantic Ocean) in Abidjan, after a discussion with my counterparts on their gains and lessons learned within the sector, I noticed that most of the countries within the sub-region had attracted bilateral support from Japan; as such, I used that same opportunity to request a meeting with the JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency) representative in Abidjan, where they have their regional office, to explore how our fishery sector can attract the same support,” Glassco recalled.
Speaking further, Glassco mentioned that the Liberian fishery delegation was extended an invitation to attend the Sustainable Use Meeting in Japan 2018, where it had the opportunity to meet with the Japanese authorities responsible for fisheries and its related matters so as to attract their support through the strong cooperation of the Foreign Minister of Liberia at the time. She disclosed further that Liberia acceded to certain international convention/protocol, which were some of their benchmarks to becoming eligible for such grants, after which Liberia submitted its proposal through the JICA office in Liberia for onward submission to the government of Japan.
The fishery boss added, “The long and short of this story is that our project proposal was well-received and approved, and they were in two folds: the construction of landing and storage sites in Buchannan, and the outboard motor engines. Both projects valued at US$7.6 million.”
She expressed thanks to her technical team, which worked with the Japanese delegation on the three assessment trips to Liberia to consummate the proposal towards the approval of the project by the government of Japan, and commended President Weah for ensuring that the project becomes a reality and for being the first Liberian President to focus attention on the fishery sector, particularly the local fishermen and fishmongers.
“Let me also recognize Hon. Bill Twehway for his support in allotting five acres for the port land here in Buchannan for the construction of this landing and storage fish facility, which was a criterion for approval by the government of Japan, evidenced by the signing program on Monday, October 18, 2021, which happened after the symbolic turning over ceremony of the Yamaha Outboard Engines,” Director Glassco concluded.