30 Years of shark fishing in west africa - Shark Specialist Group

Text Box 10. The local disappearance of sawfish: a sign of the degradation
of Shark stocks in the SRFC sub-region
Sawfish (family Pristidae) have progressively
disappeared throughout the sub-region
in the past ten years, except in Guinea-Bissau
and Sierra Leone, as highlighted by the
surveys carried out in the sub-region in
2005 and 2006, in the framework of the
SRPOA-Sharks Project, by the SRFC/FIBA
and the French NGO, Noé Conservation.
According to these surveys, some ‘pockets
of resistance’ seem to remain in the Bijagos
archipelago, in Guinea-Bissau, and in the
sea coastal zones of Sierra Leone.
The surveys carried out in collaboration with
Noé Conservation (Ballouard et al., 2006)
show that up until the 1970s, according to the
fishermen interviewed in the six countries investigated
(Cape-Verde was not included in the surveys,
because the configuration of its continental
shelf does not provide a favourable habitat for
such species), Pristidae sp. was commonly found.
Although sawfish had never been specifically targeted,
up to ten individuals could be caught in
one outing. However, most of the landings were
comprised of one or two specimens. The landings
seem to be relatively regular in some zones (once a
week) and more spaced out in others (a few landings
per year). In Guinea-Bissau in particular, the
species was even fished using traditional techniques,
such as the harpoon and trap nets.
There were probably zones in which sawfish were
concentrated. In Mauritania, sawfish seemed
to be particularly abundant near Tidra (Banc
d’Arguin). On the rest of the West African coast,
they were especially numerous in the region
between Casamance, in Senegal, and Kamsar,
in Guinea-Conakry, as well as further to the
south, around Sierra Leone. This phenomenon
can be explained by the fact that in this part of
the sub-region there are numerous estuaries,
which would appear to be the preferred habitat
of sawfish. The surveys also drew attention to
the disappearance, in only thirty years, of Pristis
in nearly all of West Africa.
The disappearance of sawfish probably began in
the 1970s, when the migrant fishermen started
to arrive, and new fishing techniques were
developed including monofilament fishing lines.
According to the migrant fishermen interviewed,
the disappearance of sawfish began in northern
Senegalese waters, from where the wave of
extinction moved south.
In Mauritania, the last sawfish seen was in
1995. In Senegal, the last catch dates vary.
Sightings range for the 1970s in the north to
the most recent date of 1992 at Cap Skiring.
In Gambia, the last date mentioned is 1995. In
Guinea, some interviews mention landings that
took place in 2005 in Dar es Salam and Dobiré;
however, this information could not be verified.
The most credible declarations of landings refer
to catches in 1999, in northern Guinean waters,
at the border of Guinea-Bissau. Sierra Leonean
waters are likely to shelter a vestigial population
of sawfish: there are accounts of catches in 2003
and 2006 in the northern estuary of the Grandes
and Petites Scarcies Rivers, then in Sawfish are
most likely to be found today in Guinea-Bissau.
During the surveys made in 2005 and 2006, the
most recent catch in the sub-region took place in
Guinea-Bissau, in 2004. With this in mind we
can predict that sawfish are still present in the
Bijagos archipelago.
Conclusions and prospects
The emergence and development of a
Shark fishing industry in the SRFC zone
is linked to multiple factors, which have
brought about significant changes in the
organisation and management of fisheries.
The commercial value of shark fins in the
Asian market and the increasing value of
certain by-products (salted and dried, and
smoked meat) on the sub-regional market
were the basis of a headlong ‘Shark rush’.
This almost uncontrollable exploitation
led to Shark stocks becoming exhausted,
and many species are now seriously
threatened with extinction. The negative
effects of this exploitation were soon felt in
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