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.
