Government Contacts & Information Resources for
Commercial Fishing, Seafood, Aquaculture, Marine & Oceans in Cameroon

Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profile for Cameroon - aquatic species caught by country or area, by species items, by FAO major fishing areas, and year, for all commercial, industrial, recreational and subsistence purposes. The harvest from mariculture, aquaculture and other kinds of fish farming is also included.

Organization of Ministry Livestock, fisheries and animal industries Cameroon - Contact details

FISH & SEAFOOD of CAMEROON
The fish community inhabiting the estuaries, creeks and other coastal brackishwater consists of both freshwater and marine fish species. The estuarine Sciaenidae (croakers) are dominated by Pseudotolithus elongatus whose bathymetric distribution extends to 20 m depth, but P. senegalensis and P. typus (which are a common element in the catch of the coastal open waters) also occur in the estuaries. The family Clupeidae constitutes an important element of the estuarine fish community. Ethmalosa fimbriata (bonga) and Ilisha africana (shad) are both caught in the shallow open waters and in the brackish water. Third, the family Polynemidae (threadfins) contributes significantly to estuarine and creek fisheries, but it is not yet possible to determine the exact magnitude of Galeoides decadactylus, Polynemus quadrifilis and Pentanemus quinquarius, which are harvested from brackish waters. Additionally, other marine species in this sector include: Pteroscion peli (drum), which extends from the sea to the freshwater zone; Lutjanus (snapper); Cynoglossus (soles); (Pomadasys jubelini (sompat) grunt; Penaeus notialis (southern pink shrimp); the marine and estuarine Parapenaeopsis atlantica (Guinea shrimp) and Palaemon (white shrimp). The other significant exploitable resources in the estuaries and creeks are: Chrisichthys nigrodigitatus (brackishwater catfish), Arius spp. (marine catfish), Trichiurus lepturus (hairtail/silver fish), Cybium tritor (Spanish mackerel), Sardinella and Sphyraena (barracuda).

The Ocean Data and Information Network for Africa (ODINAFRICA) brings together marine institutions from twenty-five Member States of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO from Africa (Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Togo, and Tunisia). The goal of the current phase of ODINAFRICA is to improve the management of coastal and marine resources and the environment in participating countries by: enhancing data flows into the national oceanographic data and information centres in the participating countries, strengthening the capacity of these centres to analyse and interpret the data so as to develop products required for integrated management of the coastal areas of Africa, and increase the delivery of services to end users.