Senegal: participatory assessment of shellfisheries in the estuarine and mangrove ecosystems of Senegal

Located in the western most part of the African continent with a wide opening to the Atlantic Ocean, Senegal has a coastline of nearly 700 km, sometimes marked by estuaries (Saloum Delta, Casamance, Senegal, Alahein) (see Appendix 1), which favors the development of rich mangrove ecosystems and therefore a varied exploitation of shellfish resources. The country is particularly rich in fish species with its 700 km of coastline subject to upwellings and its 23,000 km2 wide continental shelf (Iossa et al., 2008). In Senegal, shellfish harvesting, and farming, plays an important role in the fisheries sector. In general, shellfish harvesting, and farming, helps thousands of women to meet their children’s schooling needs, their health, and contributes to the family’s daily expenses. Important efforts are also made for the conservation of shellfish resources and the mangrove ecosystem in general. The implementation of traditional systems to ensure sustainable conservation of the resources is practically applied in all the exploitation areas. These traditional conservation systems are mainly reinforced by the good community organization of the women who are the main actors in this sector. These are economic interest groups (EIGs), associations for the sustainable exploitation of resources, and federations or local unions of EIGs, to facilitate conservation and the sharing of good practices in the management of fisheries resources (Gaye, 2012). The current study assesses the scale and scope of shellfisheries and shellfish-based livelihoods connected with mangrove systems and coastal water bodies in Senegal through a participatory approach. The main objectives were the identification of key stakeholders and assessment of the scale and scope of existing shellfisheries and shellfish-based livelihoods in mangrove systems or its related water bodies. This study complements a Literature Reviewcovering shellfisheries in each of the 11 coastal West Africa countries from Senegal to Nigeria. The specific objectives were to:

a. Identify types of mangrove/estuarine ecosystem-based shellfisheries, by species and location.

b. Estimate catch per day/month/season, fishing calendar, seasonality of shellfisheries and harvesting methods, processing, and trading of shellfishes.

c. Estimate revenue generated from mangrove/estuarine ecosystem-based shellfisheries.

d. Determine the challenges and health-related conditions associated with the consumption of shellfishes.

e. Assess mangrove exploitation, its uses, gender attributes in its harvest, condition, and protection status.

f. Determine the governance/management regimes as applied to shellfisheries and mangrove systems.

g. Determine the effect of climate risks on the livelihoods and food security of women who depend on coastal mangrove and estuarine systems.

Wélé M., Chuku E. O., Abrokwah S., Kent K. & Crawford B., 2021. Participatory assessment of shellfisheries in the estuarine and mangrove ecosystems of senegal. Researchgate. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.19295.9488. Article.

Related