Hon. Yankuba Touray, the SoS for fisheries and water resources, has said that sub-regional integration is the only way forward to achieve success in conserving and preserving the precious fisheries resources for now and posterity.

SoS Touray made these remarks yesterday at the protocol of implementation of the agreement between the Gambia and Senegal on the area of maritime fisheries held at the Atlantic Hotel in Banjul.

According to SoS Touray, it is as a result of the growing international demand for fishing resources that in 1991 the committee on fisheries called for the development of a new concept, which could lead into the development of responsible and sustained fishing.

He also said that in this regard the FAO formulated a global code of conduct for responsible fishing adopted in October 1995, which provides a framework for national and international efforts to ensure sustainable exploitation of fishing resources in harmony with the environment.

He further said that the legal regime of the Ocean gave coastal states the rights and responsibilities to manage the resources within their EEZs, but he however noted that in Africa many coastal states continue to face challenges in the management and protection of fisheries resources within and outside their EEZ.

"It is in recognition of these concerns that the sub-regional fisheries commissions were established to forster the intergrated management of our marine resources" he added.

He further highlighted that the commission has successfully implemented over the years a number of projects which have yielded positive results in policy harmonization, protection of our marine coast and capacity building.

According to him the sub-regional commission also serves as a viable organ for sub-regional integration which is the only way forward to achieve success in conserving and preserving our precious fisheries resources for now and posterity.

He added that the government of the Gambia is extremely concerned about the unsustainable fisheries resources, use and damages to the aquatic environment which need to be addressed urgently through appropriate policy reforms and legislative reforms in support of sustainable fisheries and optimal use of the marine environment.

For his part Amadou CirÈ Kane, the Senegalese permanent secretary at the sub-regional fishing commission, stated that the objective of the meeting is to harmonize fisheries policies since fish have no boundaries. He also said that the commission is mandated to implement programs and projects developed by member countries.

According to him, during the past four years the commission implemented several projects in the area of project management and research with the help of development partners.

For his part the Gambia and Senegal is linked by history blood and culture and the relationship between the two sister countries have been protected by the two Heads of State .

He then added that the Gambia and Senegal are collaborating in many aspects and Senegal will spare no efforts in implementing the decission of the commission.

It could be recalled that this joint ministerial meeting is the fifth meeting of the sub-regional commission which has seven members namely, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritanian, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone and Cape Verde.