VOA常速英语2008年-Guinea's Traditional Fishermen Feel Squeeze of

By Nico Colombant
Conakry, Guinea
06 February 2008

In Guinea, as in many other coastal¹ parts of West Africa, entire communities depend on fishing as their essential source of income. The industry remains² one of the region's most lucrative³. But several problems are making traditional fishermen feel increasingly squeezed out from profits being made. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from Guinea's seaside capital, Conakry.

Guinean fisherman Soriba Camara has a difficult time making his pirogue start.

He screams instructions to his three-man crew as his pirogue sets out to sea for an early morning expedition.

While his team casts out nets, Camara explains some of the problems he faces.

He says the government should sell tax-free gasoline to fishermen because he says regular gasoline prices are too expensive. He says fishermen also need micro-credit programs to invest in nets, motors and repairs.

When the smaller boats such as Camara's return to shore with their catch, they are met by shouting middlemen wading⁴ knee-deep in shore break water.

Some of the smaller fish which are meant for the local market are plopped on the beach and given to market women, like Phoebia Moussa. She says she often buys the fish on credit or pays for them with different services, like cooking or even prostitution.

"It's very difficult because we do not have money to buy fish, unless we help the fishermen before we get some money to eat, so this is a problem," she says. "We don't have a place to sleep. Sometimes we just sleep on this beach."

Up narrow stairs to the dock, other market women act as barterers to price bigger species, including tuna, which are reserved for European and Asian markets.

Conakry-based lawyer Alpha Oumar Sysavane says traditional fishermen are being marginalized by this whole process.

He says Guinean fishermen should be selling their catches directly and that there are too many middlemen working for foreigners.

Sysavane says Guinea's government should at least rework fishing agreements to ensure more Guinean nationals are hired on foreign boats.

The president of Guinea's association for traditional fishermen, Issiaga Daffe, also has complaints.

He is unhappy with a recent request from Guinea's unions which was followed through by the government to ban certain fish exports. The idea was to ensure their availability on local markets at cheaper prices.

But, instead, the ban has created illegal export channels, further reducing revenues for fishermen.

A government official meeting other officials at one of the docks in Conakry, Souba Camara, says traditional fishermen are also victims of nighttime attacks by pirate boats. He says the government has no way to monitor or stop this.

Traditional fishermen have reserved waters close to shore, while foreign-owned industrial boats are supposed to limit themselves to deep-sea fishing.

Camara says no one knows who is behind the pirate attacks.

He says some of the bigger boats also catch small fish they are not supposed to, which they use to feed livestock⁵ in their countries. Other big boats, he says, kill small fish they do not need with their big nets, and throw them back into the ocean, disrupting both the seabed's ecosystem⁶ and depriving local markets.

One fisherman, Mamadou Camara, tries to support his family with a boat he calls "Have Confidence."

He says he has a hard time paying for food, electricity and school bills.

Camara says he is too discouraged to train his eldest⁷ son to become a fisherman and, instead, pushes him to stay in school.

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

4 wading   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The man tucked up his trousers for wading. 那人卷起裤子，准备涉水。
• The children were wading in the sea. 孩子们在海水中走着。

5 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

6 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

7 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。