Officials
of the Department of Fisheries over the weekend embarked on a distribution of
flags to fishermen at various fishing landing sites.
They
also met with officers of fire and rescue services posted at fishing landing
sites within the Greater Banjul Area.
The
fisheries officials also visited various landing sites in Bakau, Taniji,
Kartong, Brufut, Jeshwang and Banjul to hand over the flags to the fire and rescue
service for protection at sea.
Speaking
at Tanji landing site, Amadou Jallow, focal person for Monitoring Environment
and Security in Africa (MESA), said the flags were meant to use as earth
observation information to provide support for safety at sea.
According
to him, the main objective of the service was to monitor and forecast ocean
conditions to help improve safety of fishermen and other mariners at sea.
He
said the fire and rescue service produces charts of sea surface currents, sea
surface height, sea surface temperature and salinity sea surface winds and
significant wave heights to provide early warning on ocean conditions.
Mr
Jallow said further that these products are mainly targeted at local fishermen,
especially artisanal and semi-industrial who do not use sophisticated equipment
and therefore the most vulnerable at sea.
He
said the rescue service description provides users from the artisanal fisheries
sector with early warning SMS and maps
of ocean conditions for near-real-time
and forecasts to help in planning fishing expeditions.
He
said the flags will be given to the fire service which will be responsible for
placing them upon receiving a message from the department of fisheries.
“We
will be updating them with daily messages which will state the status of
tomorrow forecast,” he said, adding that the purpose of the flags is to advise
the fishermen when to go to the sea and when not to go.
He
said that during their interaction with the fire and rescue service, they
learnt that there was need for more sensitization and awareness creation
because most of the fishermen do not believe in what they are telling them.
Mr
Jallow thanked the fire and rescue service for their cooperation in ensuring
that the initiative is implemented for the safety of people at sea.
