Marine Fishery Resources of Sierra Leone: A review of exploited fish stocks
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Sierra Leone is located in the southwestern sector of the great bulge of West Africa. It lies between 7°N and 10°N and is bordered on the North and East by the Republic of Guinea, and on the South by Liberia. Sierra Leone has a territorial sea limit of 200 mi. Its coastline is about 506 km and is characterized by extensive mangrove swamps, a number of estuaries and rivers that are navigable for short distances. The hydrographic regime of Sierra Leone waters is characterized by a relatively st able, shallow thermocline lying at mid-shelf depth and affecting the distribution of fish. Seasonal changes are due to the following effects of the monsoonal wet season: high river discharges, reduced surface water salinities, lowered solar radiation and a slight dip in mixed layer temperatures. The multiple stock fisheries are exploited with a variety of fishing gears (gillnets, cast nets, beach seines, trawls, purse seines, ringnets, traps and hooks), operated from different artisanal canoes a nd industrial fishing boats. Before the introduction of trawlers in 1955, fishing was purely artisanal. Even today, the catch of the artisanal fishery accounts for more than 80% of the total national fish landings.