‘Fishing in the morning helps our sea’

Says Bakau fisherman

Mr. Saikou Mendy, a fisherman in Bakau has called on the fishermen folk to adapt to best fishing practices especially fishing in the morning in a bid to protect and safe the sea for posterity.

Speaking to Mansa Banko Blog, he said, this is the best way to protect the sea instead of fishing throughout the day (Morning, afternoon and evening).

Bakau town includes the Cape Point promontory, and its northernmost coastline marks the point where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Gambia River. It is part desirable suburb, part shanty town and part coastal resort.

The coastline is fringed with palm trees however, the beach area is composed of rocky, laterite cliff edges and at high tide the sand can disappear altogether.

This is not the case with Cape Point which descends onto a wide beach area.

According to Mr. Mendy, fishing in the morning avails the fishermen more chances of catching more fish.

Dilating on the price of fish, Mendy noted that there is no standard price for fish; it is determined by the nature of the sea. 

Bakau’s local oral history says that the old village (now a town) was established by the Bojang family over 500 years ago when crocodiles came and settled in what is now known as Katchikally.

His words: “We do not set a special price for the fish. The price depends on the sea because when the weather is good for fishing, you can catch as many as possible. The price gets cheaper when there is plenty fish and the best time to go for fishing is in the morning.”

He added that fish is sometimes very expensive especially when the sea is not safe for fishing and if that happened most of the fishermen and sailors do not go for fishing.

“As we are speaking today, only few sailors went for fishing due to bad sea condition. The price of fish is very high in the market today.  We are selling per basket of bonga fish at D400 to D300 equivalent to $10 to $7.5 but when the sea is in good nature, a basket of fish is sold at D150 to D200 ($5 to $3.75)."

Mansa Banko blog visited different fish landing sites such as Bakau, Sanyang, Gunjur, and Tanji. The following markets- Serrekunda, Latrikunda and Brikama to get the views of the fish vendors and sailors.

In Bakau town, the fish market stalls can be found either near quayside or at the road side 100m from the taxi rank.

At the bottom of a steeply sloped road you can see smokehouses as well as fish, such as bonga or butterfish, being brought onto the shore area from the brightly coloured 

African pirogues, the filleting process and ultimately the smoking or chilling and packing of the fish.

You can buy fresh shrimps from next door to the taxi rank.