Sierra Leone - State of the Marine Environment 2015

60-80 species have been identified as belonging to this community, only some species are dominant. These include Pseudotolithus elongatus , Drepane africana , Cynoglossus goreensis , Arius lasticutus and Dasyatis maragaritu . Stocks are under pressure from artisanal fishermen and from commercial trawlers. They are in poor condition and in a state of decline according to results of stock assessments and the present assessment. 3.3.4. Estuarine and Creek Community The fish production in estuaries in Sierra Leone is not known. However, Blaber (1997) and Baran (2000) have calculated that West African estuarine fish production ranges around 15-16 tonnes/km²/year. Based on available information, fish production in the estuaries is between 3,855 and 4,144 million tonnes per year. 3.4. Marine fisheries 3.4.1. Inshore Pelagics Among the inshore pelagic species, the most important species are the clupeids ( Ilisha africana , Ethmalosa fimbriata , Sardinellamaderensis and Sardinella aurita ), the carangids and the scombrids. These fish categories are mainly migratory and closely related to the fluctuations of the environmental conditions within the estuaries and near-shore. 3.4.2. Offshore Pelagic Fisheries The offshore pelagic fisheries consist mostly of species associated with three types of hydrographic regimes. Engraulis encrasicolus , Sardinella aurita and Decapterus species are found associated with the thermocline. Scomber japonicus and Trachurus species are found in the upwelling zones. Tuna species are also found in this zone, which include: Yellowfin tuna ( Thunnus albacares ), Skipjack tuna ( Katsuwonus pelamis ) and Little tuna ( Euthynnus alletterates ). 3.4.3. Inshore Demersal Fisheries This community consists mostly of demersal fish species. It is diverse but in terms of abundance it is dominated by Sciaenidae. The prominent members of the Scianidae are Pseudotolithus elongatus , P. senegalensis , P. brachygnatus , P. typhus , Plynemidae ( Galeiodes decadactylus , Pentanemus quinquarius , Polydactylus qadrifilis ), Drepanidae ( Drepane africana ), Monodactylidae ( Monodactylus sebae ), Pomadasyidae ( Pomadasys jubelini , P. peroteti ), Lutjanidae ( Lutjanus goreensis ). 3.4.4. Offshore Demersal Fishery The offshore demersal fishers include the spared fauna of the continental slope community and shellfish. The spared

fauna normally inhabits the regions below the thermocline on sandy and rocky bottoms. The shallow shelf lutjanidae sub-community is dominated by species, which include Balistis capriscus , Pagellus bellotti and Dentex canariensis . The deep shelf sparid community includes the Dentex sp . and the Pendtheroscusion sp . The continental shelf edge community inhabits depths between 200–300m and is dominated by the genera, which includes Bembrops and Antigonia. The continental slope community, which includes genera such as Gleus and Citta, are found below 400m depth. 3.4.5. Shell Fish (Invertebrates, Squid, crustaceans etc.) The crustacea and molluscs consist of the shrimps, cuttlefish and squid. Of the shrimp species of commercial importance Penaeus notialis accounts for about 96% of the landings and occurs of the Freetown peninsula especially around Banana Island. Penaeus kerathurtus occurs in the southern part of the coast. Both species inhabit the mangrove swamps, estuaries and inner continental shelf to a depth of 55m. Other species occur in deeper waters of 40–70m and above the continental slope. The inner shelf shell fish populations are assessed to be in good but declining condition. 3.5. Birds There are 23 species of seabirds of globally important conservation status which frequent Sierra Leone’s coastal waters, including Lesser Flamingo, Damara Tern, Avocet to name a few in addition to the list (Tab. 3.1). These birds

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