Artisanal fishers offload their catches to waiting men at one of the largest fish landing sites in the Gambian fishing village of Tanji.
Fish is a lifeline for many coastal communities in West Africa, a region that is home to some of the most abundant fish stocks in the world. Fisheries is also a vital piece of social fabric, underpinning the identity and heritage of many locals.
But the once seemingly boundless resource is now dwindling in the Gulf of Guinea, threatening the vulnerable people who depend upon them.
Many in the Gambia— the smallest and one of the poorest nations in West Africa— know the pain of disappearing fish stocks too well. About 200,000 people over a total population of two million depended on fish and fisheries-related activities.
Workers load fresh catches to be transported to other part of the Gambia at the Tanji landing site.
At one of the largest and busiest fish landing sites in the country, Dawda Saine, the Secretary of the National Association of Artisanal Fisheries Operators, said more than a hundred artisanal fishing boats land their more than 2,000 tonnes of catch every day.
But hovering over the bustling and energetic port was the threat of overfishing and illegal fishing. Saine said he has seen more and more fishers struggle to catch enough fish to sustain their livelihoods.
Sira displays fresh fish at her stall in Bakoteh Fish Market.
Most of the fishers in the Gambia are artisanal. They often have to contend with foreign industrial fishing trawlers from Europe, China, Russia and Japan in the West African water, where 40% of the catches are illegal.
As a fishmonger at Bakoteh fish market, Sira saw the changes brought by overfishing.
She said the prices of fish have skyrocketed over the decade. A bucket of fish known as meagre used to be around 3,000 Gambian Dalasi, US$50, but it now costs 10,000 Dalasi, US$167.
Ad hoc fishmeal plant workers ride on the waves at the Gambian coast of Gunjur, waiting for their buckets to be filled up by fishers.
The foreign-owned fishmeal and fish oil plants, which source wild fish directly off the Gambian Sea, have put even more stress on the resource.
The Chinese-owned Golden Lead fishmeal factory, which sits in the southwestern Gambian town of Gunjur, is one of the three fishmeal plants in the country. They produce fishmeal by cooking, drying and grinding wild fish into power, which is sent abroad and used as animal feed or nutritional supplement.
Men carry buckets of wild-caught fish, loaded up from fishing boats at the coast, sprinting into the Golden Lead fishmeal plant.
Smoke and steam billow from the chimneys of the Golden Lead fishmeal plant, spreading the irritating smell of the cooking fish to the whole village.
The locals expected the factory to be an economic driver and a provider of desperately needed job opportunities. The promise remains unfulfilled as it only engages a small amount of ad-hoc, low-skilled workers. The business pays the men who transport fish into the plant at the rate of 35 Gambian Dalasi, less than US$60C, per bucket.
Environmental activists say the factory also brought air and water pollution into the coastal area, pumping untreated wastewater into the ocean and wafting out irritating odour. Despite their repeated protests, weak environmental law enforcement and persistent corruption perpetuate the unchecked operation.
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Oyster Women of the Gambia
The fishing industry and policymakers often overlook the contribution of women in fisheries. Women are invisible in most of the official data in West Africa despite their significant roles in processing, trading and distributing fish.
In the Gambia, women are known for their oyster-harvesting skills. They paddle their boats along the mangrove forest on the Gambia River, reach the mangrove roots, and knock the oysters grown on them. Back to the coast, they then shuck and smoke the oyster deftly for preservation.
A group of oyster harvesters croon folk songs while paddling to collect oysters from the mangroves on the Gambia River.
A woman shows shucked oysters ready for smoking in the village of Sanyang, the Gambia.
The oysters that grow on mangrove roots are a source of food or income for local communities.
Women in Sanyang rely on harvesting and processing oysters for a living.
**The pictures were captured during a work trip with China Dialogue Ocean.