The China National Fisheries Corporation (CNFC) is this year marking the 40th anniversary of its presence in Guinea-Bissau, reports Xinhua.
Off the Bissau Guinean coast lies one of the Atlantic’s most abundant fishing grounds, believed to have the richest biodiversity in West Africa, teeming with fish, shrimp, lobster, crabs and cephalopods.
More than 250,000 Bissau Guineans work in the fisheries sector, which generates between 300,000 and 350,000 tonnes annually and accounts for 6 percent of GDP. Without any deep-sea fishing vessels of its own, Guinea-Bissau issues fishing licenses to foreign vessels, a primary source of foreign exchange.
CNFC launched its first vessel in these rich waters back in May 1985, less than a year after the Chinese and Bissau Guinean governments signed a fisheries cooperation agreement. Now the largest state-owned fishery integrated enterprise in China, CNFC only formed in October 1984, just two months after the agreement was signed.
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In the four decades since, CNFC has built a robust operation in Guinea-Bissau, with 15 bottom trawlers in operation and 242 staff members from China and overseas. The company has hired and trained over 1,000 local crew members and managers in that time, while also sharing modern fishing techniques and technologies with local fishermen.
China has also contributed to fisheries infrastructure in the country. The Alto do Bandim Fishing Port, a US$26 million renovation financed by China and inaugurated in May 2023, has capacity for 250 to 300 smaller fishing vessels and two semi-industrial fishing vessels.
A nearby 4,000-square-metre seafood processing and storage facility was completed by CNFC the same year. It is the largest modern fisheries processing plant in the country, supplying the country with affordable seafood.
Issumaila Djalo, a staff member at CNFC’s Guinea-Bissau office, underlined fisheries as “one of Guinea-Bissau’s pillar industries,” and told Xinhua that China’s support meant that “our country’s marine resources are truly benefiting the people.”
