Sierra Leone - State of the Marine Environment 2015

Figure 9.1: Risk assessment results (5 and 50 year timeframe)

(northern and western stocks) and S. maderensis (northern and western stocks). The Ethmalosa fimbriata (southern stock) is underexploited while Trachurus trecae (southern stock) is fully exploited. The expert workshop regarded the risk to be significant in a 5 and 50 years perspective both because of illegal fishing and overfishing. The risk of a collapse of the fish stock in the next 50 years was even regarded as high if overfishing continues. 9.4. Mangroves A wide range of commercial and non-commercial fish and shellfish also depends on these coastal mangrove forests. The role of mangroves in the marine food chain is crucial. The average yield of fish and shellfish in mangrove areas is about 90 kg per hectare, with maximum yield of up to 225 kg per hectare (FAO 1994).

Recent monitoring of mangroves of Sierra Leone suggests they will continue to decline unless actions to reverse the degradation are implemented and enforced. Deforestation activities are on the increase due to urban expansion, coastal agriculture (mainly rice production), poles for construction, salt production and fish drying. With increasing population and drift to coastal areas, mangrove degradation is likely to persist for the foreseeable future. However, a regional mangrove charter has been adopted by Sierra Leone which if implemented together with other conservation measures, will significantly reverse the trend. 9.5. Coastal development The pace of coastal development is dictated by economic growth in the country. Of importance is recent development of export processing zones and ancillary

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