The Darwin Initiative Project: Can oyster culture in Sherbro evolve into a sustainable livelihood?

Sadly, many of you may know Sierra Leone for the conflicts of its past, depicted masterfully in Edward Zwick's film: Blood Diamond. It has more recently appeared in western media during the Ebola outbreak. However, it is a resilient country where open conflict is a thing of the past, and the recovery from Ebola is underway.

The Sherbro Estuary is a pristine mangrove ecosystem where oyster culture is an important livelihood and source of income for rural communities. Oysters are an important source of protein in the area and is harvested mainly by women.

In 2014 the Darwin Initiative, with funding from Difid (the UK government development agency), set up a project with the aim of developing sustainable livelihoods for fisherwomen in the Sherbro Estuary Marine Protected Area. The intended outcome is to increase income of 40 households and the size of oyster populations by 2018. Sadly, the Ebola outbreak brought project operations to a standstill. Yet things are moving forward as I write.

Oyster fishing at the moment is largely for subsistence, as most members of the community live in a hand to mouth existence. Lack of cooling equipment means oyster meat must be removed from the shell and smoked in order to be preserved, resulting in a substantial loss in value. So it is mainly a source of protein for the local community. One of the intended outcomes of the project will be to develop a supply chain where the value of the fresh product is maintained and can be sold in markets of the surrounding area.

But before a market is developed, more needs to be learned about how the fishery is managed. Sherbro Estuary is a marine protected area, but regulation and enforcement relies on agreements between members of the local community rather than a government enforcement body. It is important to gain an understanding of what these agreements are before trying to develop markets any further.

So far 15 fishing communities have been identified within the estuary, an oyster culturing structure has been set up, and some water quality parameters (Salinity, temperature, pH) are being measured. However, these activities need to be expanded, and the dynamic of the fishery management must be understood.