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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