Monrovia, Liberia – In an effort to close the knowledge gap, the University of Liberia’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences Department has requested support from the European Union as part of a new fisheries project that the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) has launched in Monrovia through Director General Emma Metieh Glassco.
Speaking on August 20, 2024, Tuesday, at the official opening of the Liberia Fisheries Governance Project (LFGP), a project funded by the European Union and located in Monrovia, Madam Glassco urged the EU to include enhancing the University of Liberia’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Department’s human resources capacity in its future agenda.
“We will need additional support for that program from the European Union.”
Madam Glassco, speaking for the Liberian government, praised the European Union for what she described as its unwavering support of the country’s fishing industry over the previous years.
She said, as one of Liberia’s key partners in the fisheries sector, the European Union is now providing five of its specialists to the country’s fishing industry in order to improve and fortify the sector’s governance structure. She also revealed that the industry has received sector-specific and technical help from the EU.
ona Deprez, the European Union Ambassador accredited to Liberia and the head of Delegation of the European Union to Liberia mentioned that fisheries are a priority sector for both the Government of Liberia and the European Union at the global level, with the European Green Deal and its Farm to fork strategy.
“Fisheries are a priority sector for both the Government of Liberia and the European Union at the global level, with the European Green Deal and its Farm to Fork Strategy, and at the Delegation level, with dedicated bilateral programs and our TEI on Safe and Sustainable Food Systems,”
According to Ambassador Nona Deprez, the Liberian Fisheries sector employs about 37,000 people full- or part-time, 60% of whom are women. It also accounts for 10% of the nation’s GDP and plays a significant role in promoting better nutrition, with fish accounting for 80% of the animal protein consumed in Liberia by those living along the coast.
Additionally, Ambassador Deprez listed a number of obstacles that could prevent the sector’s growth, the first of which was climate change. The coastal population of Liberia is directly threatened by sea level rise, coastal floods, invasions by pelagic seaweed, and an increase in the frequency, severity, and unpredictability of extreme weather events. The EU Ambassador to Liberia added that the quantity and distribution of fish species are impacted by current shifts, rising ocean temperatures, and ocean acidification.
Augustine Fayiah, Program Officer for the Environmental Justice Foundation, who emphasized the vital role his organization has been playing in recent years to improve and fortify the fishing industry by forming the Core Management Association in four counties: Grand Cape Mount, Margibi, Grand Bassa, and Grand Kru.
According to Fayiah, the Communities for Fisheries Project, which is funded by the EU, aims to strengthen and expand community co-management associations in order to reduce illegal fishing and improve the sustainability of fisheries. This will also create effective capacity for community monitoring and reporting of illegal fishing.
He claimed that the EJF had helped to create 32 Village Saving Loan Associations, or VSLA, and seven CMAs including four coastal counties in Liberia: Grand Bassa, Margibi, Grand Kru, and Grand Cape Mount.
