“Seaweed blooms caused by fishmeal plants hurt Gambian coastal communities” 5 July 2022

[...] The “Smiling Coast” of West Africa, as the country is affectionately known, has long been popular with tourists who enjoy its white sandy beaches and the lodges that are nestled among clumps of coconut palm. But near three fishmeal factories located in the fishing villages of Gunjur, Sanyang and Kartong, decomposing seaweed has become a menace. [...]

As well as campaigning, activists in Gunjur have collected samples of wastewater from the nearby Golden Lead fishmeal factory, and sent it to a company called Reef Analytics in Germany to be examined.

According to Ahmed Manjang, a leading activist and microbiologist in Gunjur, the wastewater contained “high quantities of organic matter that caused eutrophication”. This is the term for excessive richness of nutrients in the water, which in turn leads to excessive growth of plants that then decompose, depriving marine animals of oxygen. [...]

Breaching the rules

The Gambia’s 1994 National Environmental Management Act specifies that “no person shall discharge dangerous material, or substance into any water or any segment of the environment except per the regulation prescribed by the council.”

But a senior member of the National Environment Agency, the government entity overseeing environmental management, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “There is no political will from the top government officials to address this fishmeal issue. While doing our work as mandated by law, a command will come from the top government office to jeopardise the proceeding.”

There is currently no specific fine for illegally discharging waste into the ocean. Activists say this has created room for corruption and compromise. “Because there is no specific fine for such act, the government officials involved in dealing with illegal waste dumping are compromised” environmentalist Omar Saho said.

In 2017, the Golden Lead factory paid an out-of-court settlement to the government of US$25,000 after discharging wastewater without approval from the authorities. They were also asked to pay for the testing of the already contaminated water.

The fisheries ministry is yet to conduct any scientific research on seaweed blooms, but its director, Anna Mbenga Cham, believes factory wastewater is the likely cause. “I doubt if the inland sewage causes the seaweed bloom. We will monitor the seaweed situation with the fishers there,” she added.

The director also pointed to a lack of coordination among government ministries as making it more complicated to address the fishmeal problem. “This is not only the Ministry of Fisheries’ responsibility,” she said. [...]