Policy formulation and implementation of fisheries governance for aquatic resource management in Cameroon

Abstract

With a small Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 14,693 km2, Cameroon is located in the central West Africa, bordered by Nigeria from the north, the Central African Republic and Chad from the east, Gabon from the south and the Atlantic Ocean from south east. Over the few past decades, the population stock of aquatic resources in Cameroon has drastically decreased due to not only the lack of knowledge on the status of the stock, but also the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. A bunch of international agreements, laws and policies has been settled to save the fish stock, and to be aligned with the recommendation of the 14th Sustainable Development Goals (SDO) that imply to “conserve the sustainable use of the ocean, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. Despites all these efforts, the sustainability of the stock is slow to maintain and drive the country towards aggressive exportation of aquatic resources. Moreover, the process of decentralization is displayed by the current Cameroonian constitution of the 18th of January 1996. The decentralized communities that are supposed to help for a consistent management of aquatic resources is still a nightmare, since nothing more has been done so far to set it up. Fisheries governance, in some extent, is established in Cameroon but due to the poor management, lack of trained manpower, non-respect of international agreements, lack of appropriate financial supports, these high-valued aquatic resources are under threat. The established management tools and strategies that have been implemented in countries like Republic of Korea, Liberia, and Philippines, can serve as a model system towards a genuine improvement of the Cameroon fisheries policies and management.