Fishing

There are many benefits that the people of The Gambia gain from their river, and the water is so important for mankind and other living things.  I tell you this, both day and night you will see people on the river.  First and foremost I would like to talk about fishing and the types of fish that the river has - maybe a few types, not all.

A lot of species of fish can be found in the river Gambia.

A lot of Gambians who are near the ocean or the river engage in fishing.  The fishing is done by men mostly, and the women do the marketing.

A man on his canoe fishing with a net.

Different kinds of fish are found in this river, and some of the types that are being harvested in the river are locally called in The Gambia chaalo (bonga), and yaayboy, as well as catfish, and tilapia. Yaayboy and chaalo are difficult for me to tell apart, but yaayboy has more oil than chaalo and chaalo has more bones and tastes nice.  Here is a link for you to know what chaalo look like: http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/t3536e/T3536E06.htm

The river also has a lot of oysters, cockles and crabs.  Here is a file which has a list of other types of fish in The Gambia river on page 39 and 40.

The catfish can be processed by smoking it – if you smoke it, it is more expensive than the fresh ones.  And through smoking, it can also last longer.  Tilapia also can be smoked.  If there are too many fish on the market, some people smoke it and sell the smoked ones.

Catfish undergoing the smoking process.

The fish caught in this river are processed in different ways.  For example, you can get smoked fish, dry salty fish, and also fresh fish.  I sure that the percentage of fish consumption in The Gambia is far higher than meat consumption.

Women collecting fish from a boat.