60 capacity and to gain the practical experience necessary to carry out their institutional mandates.
The project has provided NASCOM and TRY and the constituencies they represent the opportunity to increase their awareness, to seek out, create and share knowledge, to identify best
practices and to take collective action to transform management of their fisheries towards sustainability. TRY members expressed it well when they said, “We have made it to grade 12,
we won’t go back to grade 1.” Demand to TRY and NASCOM from fishing and oyster harvesting communities not included in
the Co-Management Plans is also one of the strongest indications that these institutions and the plans they are managing are viewed as high value added by fisherfolk.
4. Building on Project Achievements - Next Steps
• A USAIDBaNafaa project debriefing report was prepared for the Minister of Fisheries in
March 2014. The Ministry shared the report with the Office of the President and an Executive Decision was given to prepare a Cabinet Paper on the Way Forward for
USAIDBaNafaa project activities. Many of the points below were included in the Minister’s debriefing report.
The Sole Fishery:
• The Sole Fishery Stock Assessment should be updated annually. The data collection
protocol agreed to in December 2013 should be implemented. •
Research on marine catfish should be continued and hook size limits added to the Co- Management Plan management measures through the amendment process by signed MOU
identified in the Plan. More in-depth analyses should also be supported, including a value chain study, stock assessment, otolith analysis and additional gear studies. These should be
recommended as part of the future research plan for Catfish.
• Support should be provided by stakeholders to NASCOM to continue to conduct Annual Co-
Management Plan review meetings. •
Another MSC pre-assessment of the sole fishery should be conducted. Eventually, full certification should be pursued. Processors should then be certified for traceability standards
and use of the eco-label to market Gambian sole.
• A joint framework should be put in place for the sustainable management of the sole stock
shared between The Gambia and Senegal. This is also critical for MSC certification. •
Continued support should be provided by institutional stakeholders for annual bi-lateral co- management meetings.
• Sole and marine catfish co-management and use rights should be expanded to additional
areas and communities in The Gambia.
61 •
Institutional capacity of NASCOM and LACOMS should be further developed see IR2 above for additional detail.
• A Cabinet Paper based on the Cost Comparison study of the sole fishery between Gambia
and Senegal should be developed. •
Robust artisanal vessel registry should be undertaken that will enable managed access to occur in the future, especially since NASCOM is activly discussing that as per the Mauritania
model.
The Oyster and Cockle Fishery:
• Oyster and cockle co-management and use rights should be expanded to additional areas and
communities in The Gambia. •
A joint co-management plan for oysters and cockles in the transboundary Allahein River Estuary should be developed and approved.
• A GNSSP should be approved and sustainably implemented.
• Institutional capacity of TRY should be further developed. TRY should be supported to
establish its own shellfish processing and education center, including acquisition of land and construction of the center see IR2 above for additional detail.
• DoFish should include assessment of the stock of the “invisible fishery” in its regular
fisheries statistics collection analysis and reporting.
WASH •
Government stakeholder institutions should support WASH Management Committees to manage WASH activities and facilities sustainably.
• Unmet WASH needs at additional fisheries landing and oyster harvesting sites should be
addressed.
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The Gambia Ecosystem-Based, Rights-Based Co-Management Experience Should Continue to be Shared Widely
The Sole and Oyster and Cockle Co-Management Plans are both available in French:
http:www.crc.uri.edudownloadSole_Management_Plan_French_508.pdf http:www.crc.uri.edudownloadOyster_Management_Plan_French_508.pdf
MSC continues to share the Gambia experience broadly as an example of a developing country fishery pursuing certification. The Gambia is an MSC pilot country for
fisheries in transition which helps developing countries move towards sustainability. An
MSC video featuring The Gambia , among other developing country case studies is
posted on the MSC. In 2014, the Chief Executive of MSC wrote a Huffington Post
blog article entitled, “Fish for Good in the Developing World,” citing The Gambia
case and acknowledging USAID. The Gambia Co-Management experience was shared and nicely documented in a
report at a
Fisheries Governance Dialogue hosted by the USAIDIntegrated Coastal
Management and Fisheries Governance Project in Ghana implemented by URI. One of the recommendations is that Ghana amend its fisheries legislation to explicitly
mention co-management as is the case in The Gambia. A
case study of TRY’s work posted on the UNDP Equator Prize website has been
broadly shared following TRY’s acceptance of the prize in Rio in 2012.
TRY has also presented at knowledge sharing events including The Wilson Center
in Washington DC and was
featured on BBC Radio .
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5. Project Management
