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Poster in Jan 12, 2023 14:06:27

Cameroon fishermen call for EU ban to end poachers in Gulf of Guinea

Cameroon fishermen call for EU ban to end poachers in Gulf of Guinea

Some Fishing boats at idenau bridge waiting to go to the sea. File Photo

Fishing boats return to Idenau, a coastal village near Cameroon's western border with Nigeria. Authorities say there are hundreds of fishermen in  Idenau and most of their fish is exported to Nigeria and Europe. But fishing authorities say many fishermen working in Cameroonian waters in the Gulf of Guinea are not registered and are not from Cameroon.

That’s why fishers in Cameroon are urging authorities to crack down on hundreds of illegal fishers and fish farmers operating in the Gulf of Guinea after the EU banned imports of Cameroon’s seafood. The EU announced the ban last week saying Cameroon was not cooperating in the fight against illegal and unregulated fishing and fish farming.

Beninese fisher Thomas Wessie, 45, said he left his town of Djougou in 2017 to fish in Cameroon’s Southwest region, where Idenau is located.

Wessie said his company has seven medium-size vessels for semi-industrial fish farming. He said besides Cameroonians, Togolese, Beninese, Ghanaians and Nigerians, the Chinese are very involved in either semi-industrial or industrial fish farming in Cameroon's part of the Atlantic Ocean.

Wessie said boats prefer fishing in Cameroon’s waters because neighboring Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Nigeria have firm military controls to stop illegal fishing.

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