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Sub-Regional Workshop on Artisanal Safety at Sea, Banjul, The Gambia, 26-28 September 1994 (Report and case studies)

Year of publication 1994

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 61

Author B. P. Satia;Jean Gallène and F. Houéhou

Product type Project

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) A sub-regional workshop on safety at sea was held in Banjul, The Gambia from 26 to 28 September 1994. Organised by the IDAF Programme, this workshop brought together 22 participants from Mauritania, Senegal, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone. A representative of the Canadian Centre of Studies and International Cooperation (CECI) and FAO staff participated as well in the workshop. The objectives of this workshop were: to review the results of the national acciden ts survey; to identify the fundamental problems and examine information on the status of safety at sea activities in the different countries and to prepare a draft proposal for a sub-regional project on safety at sea. The participants reviewed the status of safety at sea in the seven countries which represent the north side of IDAF intervention area. Great changes have occurred in the artisanal fishing fleets of the sub-region over the past 15 years. The changes have come about mainly becau se of the development of new fisheries, the introduction of new fishing techniques and the higher level of the motorization. These innovations have enabled fishermen to make greater catches. Unfortunately, this development has quite often been accompanied with some unpleasant and connected effects at various levels. One of the direct consequences of these side effects is that in countries with historical seafaring backgrounds there has been a gradual degradation of traditional navigational and seafaring skills over the years. The result is the high debt that the fishermen pay each year to the sea, as a result of repeated accidents and wreckages which range from a simple capsizing of boats with no serious consequences to a fatal collision between small and large boats.

Cite this content as:

Satia, B.P., J. Gallène, F. Houéhou, Sub-Regional Workshop on Artisanal Safety at Sea.1994 Banjul, The Gambia, 26 - 28 September 1994 IDAF Project, 57p.,

Language English

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