Case 3-13 Monitoring and enforcement activities by organizing villagers: case of beach committee activities in the Saloum Delta

The management of fisheries resources in the scattered villages of the Saloum Delta in central Senegal with a limited number of fisheries administrators could not be done satisfactorily. The fisheries administrators on the ground were aware of this and thought it was necessary to establish a fisheries resource management system by the inhabitants. Thus, in the early 2000s, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) took the initiative to create a beach committee where the villagers themselves manage their environmental resources. This case study focuses on the fisheries resource management activities conducted by them.

In the context of environmental degradation in the Saloum Delta, beach committee activities aimed at managing and protecting environmental resources flourished in the 2000’s at the initiative of the IUCN. In August 2003, beach committees were formed in 24 villages in the department of Foundiougne, including Rofangue, Fambine, Gagué Chérif and Gagué Bokar. The beach committees received patrol boats, scales, badges, gloves, work clothes, boots and other equipment necessary for surveillance activities, and training sessions were organised on the shrimp fishing regulation order, etc.

While the beach committees were active in the villages near the sea, such as Betanti and Niodior, there was no real activity in the villages of the upper Saloum Delta. This is partly explained by the fact that beach committees were organised at the call of external and higher authorities. On the contrary, in the villages of Betanti and Niodior, similar activities had already been carried out on a voluntary basis, although external authorities encouraged the creation of the beach committees.

In fisheries resource management activities involving monitoring fisheries resources, the intrinsic or extrinsic nature of these activities is among the factors that determine the sustainability of subsequent activities.

Chapter 3 Implementation of resource management measures

Even if resource management measures such as adjusting fishing effort, recruiting new stocks, and improving habitat conditions are planned and implemented, the measures will not achieve their goals if illegal operators are rampant. It is thus important to sustain and enhance resource management activities by strengthening monitoring and enforcement activities.

It is often difficult for a limited number of fisheries administrative officers to monitor and police resource management activities that are formulated and implemented in the field. Thus, local residents, who are the users of fishery resources, must participate in monitoring and policing activities. The activities of the beach committee in this case can be a reference for conducting such participatory monitoring activities.