MALI: Mopti, a major trading town and economic hub in central Mali, marks the return of fishing life after the liberation of nearby towns from Islamist occuption

Record ID: 824987

  • Title: MALI: Mopti, a major trading town and economic hub in central Mali, marks the return of fishing life after the liberation of nearby towns from Islamist occuption
  • Date: 6th February 2013
  • Summary: MOPTI, MALI (FEBRUARY 6, 2013) (REUTERS) MOPTI FISHING PORT WITH PIROGUES ALONG RIVER VARIOUS OF PIROGUES ALONG RIVER WITH FISH, FISHERMEN PUTTING THE FISH IN A BASIN VARIOUS OF FISHERMEN WITH BASKETS OF FISH ON THEIR HEAD (SOUNDBITE) (French) MAMADOU BAGA SAMAKE, DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF FISHING FOR MOPTI REGION, SAYING: "The crisis in the north had a direct impact on us, beca
  • Embargoed: 21st February 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mali
  • Country: Mali
  • Topics: Business,Conflict,Industry,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA7AQAGC82LF92J9BWBC0HZXOKW
  • Story Text: The fishermen of Mopti slid their boats back into the Niger River on Wednesday (February 6), after months of Islamist occupation in the region made a serious dent in their livelihoods.
    Mopti, in central Mali, is a regional economic hub, and many of the communities rely on the income that fishing nets their families.
    When al Qaeda-allied fighters took over the country's north last spring, the region's fishing was significantly hindered while towns along the river and nearby Mopti were occupied by the sharia-imposing rebels.
    "The crisis in the north had a direct impact on us, because with the fear of the people, we could not take advantage of the whole Delta. The entire region of Youarou was under occupation and also the zone of Tinikou, which was under occupation, and which was the preferred area for fishermen, where they could make the maximum profit," said Mamadou Baga Samake, Director-General of Fishing for the Mopti Region.
    Key towns in northern Mali have since been liberated from the Islamists, after a mid-January intervention by French forces stepped in with aerial bombardments of rebel strongholds.
    After the bombardments, ground troops from France, Mali and a U.N.-backed African force have worked to secure the region.
    Samake said a normal level of activity is once again returning to Mopti, though damage to the fishing industry had already been done.
    In 2011, the total catch for the Mopti region was 530,345 kilos.
    While, in 2012, the catch weighed in at just 95,254 kilos - less than one fifth what was recorded the year before.
    According to Nana Doukoure, President of the Mopti Fish Vendors Association, they hope to get those numbers back up soon, though progress is slow.
    "There are days that have passed, we could have unloaded more than ten tons of fish. But today, because of the events that has lessened, two or three pirogues five or six tons, today," she said.
    Now that pirogues were moving along the city's waterways again, that meant the public coffers would benefit as well, added Samake.
    "The fishermen get their fishing permits, so that makes a little more for the public treasury. So, already, if they don't have access to the resources they are not going to get their permits because they cannot fish. It's just recently with the intervention of the French army, accompanied but the Malian army and the regional armies, who are releasing the waters and the fishermen are beginning to get their permits," he said.
    According to Samake, Mopti not only provides smoked fish to the local markets, but its position along where the Niger and Bani Rivers meet, means it also supplies fish to Burkina Faso, Ghana and parts of Nigeria.
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