"Fishing in Cameroon is still dominated by foreigners" -Director , IRAD Station Batoke, Limbe

Who precisely is Doctor Ngegim Jule?

I'm a researcher at the institute of the Agricultural Research for Developement and IRAD 22 Avrile ago, I function as Head of IRAD station in Limbe Batoke specialized on marine science and aqua-culture. I hold a PhD in ecology and many Masters so a Masters in Ecology and another on the management of coastal risks with reference to natural hazards and man-made hazards. I am also an engineer specialised on Waters and Forests from the Dschang University, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Science.

 You have a lot of experience in this sector and The IRAD station at Batoke will certainly benefit from it.

 My professional experience is quite diverse. I was fortunate to have such superiors as Dr. Jean Folack , Dr. Oumarou, Dr. Yombi,Professor Bernard Hira in Paris and many others who have tried to guide my steps in the world of research . Thus with UNESCO and FAO I put in 5 to 6 years monitoring marine areas along the coast of Cameroon.
You know the marine environments are exposed to various forms of polutions.Diverse forms of marine exploitation results deposits and other debris. These may include, the petroleum exploitation and other exploration operations in marine environments. The fisherman's nets among other types of solid and liquid poluants coming from the mainland constitute some of the problems of the marine environment.For 2 years I was the National coordinator of the project known in French as "Marin Torture" .You know in the world, there are eight species of  the turltle. There are six species which frequent the Atlantic Ocean and out of these, 4 are found in the Cameroon waters. Among the four that are found in Cameroon waters is found one of the biggest turtles in the world. Among these 4 species 2 lay their eggs on Cameroonian beaches.The beaches around Limbe within the Bakingili vicinity are very rich egg laying sites.The beaches of Kribi are also very rich in turtles.


You have just been installed. Can we know your plan of action?

In my capacity as the director of IRAD Batoke, the stakes are high and there is much work to be done. Firstly when you arrive at a new station you should always try to sustain projects that were realised before you came because the people you replace have much experience with the many projects that they have carried out. Their projects should be sustained and innovated rather than discarded. 
The sustainability of these projects is aimed at producing fingerlings of top quality.You know that Cameroon exports a large amount of fish and this is not healthy as we can't even meet up with our local demand. We can only contribute to socio-economic development if we can ensure that the research results obtained is  concretised through the actions of the government. Thus quality fingerlings from IRAD Batoke should be able to supply the young people who want to get intothe activity of fish production and businessmen who want to get into this kind of activity. This will in turn create jobs,create new incomes avenues and increase the national fish production.  

 Let's talk about the quality of marine environments.

 You will agree with me that  people who live along the coast of Cameroon live from resources in marine environments. It is our duty to ensure the quality of these environments. Always alerte when polution occours so that immediate solutions are put in place. IRAD Batoke is a small entity of IRAD's big machine that is driving agricultural research in Cameroon. We respect road maps defined by hirarchy to ensure that research can contribute to the emergence of Cameroon in 2035 

 Shed light on the area of fishing in Cameroon.

Fishing is a very promising sector. Cameroon still has a long way to go as other countries such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast have an advantage over Cameroon. Cameroonian Authorities saw the necessity to make the marine areas contribute much more significantly to socio-economic development of Cameroon. Fishing in Cameroon is still dominated by Nigerians, Malians and Ghanaian among others. There is still a fairly strong exportation of fish and we dont yet satisfy our interior demand. The whole thing is about encouraging young cameroonians into this sector. Fortunately, we have institutions and universities that have been created in Cameroon like the Yabasi Institute of Marine Science that trains students in the different domains of marine science.

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