Fighting poverty and conserving fishing sources through improvement of non industrial fishing techniques

The mangrove zone around the Cacheu river in Guinea Bissau is a very large mangrove zone of ca. 30.000 ha. It is an important area for marine resources, both as a refuge and breeding ground for marine fauna and as a livelihood source for the local population and indirectly for the entire West African region. This rich area is threatened by overexploitation of both its fish resources and its vegetation. Gaeca Palmeirinha, together with the local population of the zone, considers it necessary to change the modes of fishing and fish transformation as well as the management of the mangrove resources to halt the unsustainable practices that contribute to the degradation of the mangrove ecosystem. The project aims to organize and train the different local professional groups in participatory management of their resources and in sustainable techniques of fishing and fish transformation, in cooperation with state level stakeholders who will participate an endorse the new management plan. The project provides training and assistance to improve techniques, provides suitable equipment, sets up management groups and develops a management plan, and works on environmental education for the communities.