sunefishing

Oyster fishing plays an important role in the local economy and culture in The Gambia. The women traditionally fish with hand or petrol-powered boats, but this poses considerable challenges. The work is tedious and time-consuming, the operating costs are high and the environmental impact of the combustion engines is considerable.

Our aim is to support the oyster fisherwomen’s co-operative in converting their boats to electric outboard motors powered by photovoltaics.

In The Gambia, oyster fishing has long characterised the tradition and economy. The women who do this work travel to the mangrove forests in simple wooden boats to catch and process oysters. As they do not have the money for outboard motors, they have to paddle with difficulty, which shortens their fishing time and reduces the already low yield, which is barely enough for their families to survive.

With sunefishing, we want to improve the situation of the women and at the same time increase the sustainability of fishing. Electric motors on the boats enable faster and more efficient journeys to the fishing grounds. The time gained means more fishing opportunities for the women and at the same time protection of the environment, as overfishing of individual areas is prevented.

In addition, the batteries of the electric motors can power cool boxes so that the oysters stay fresh and do not spoil. This increases the quality of the catch and therefore the price that can be realised for the oysters.

The project has the potential to improve the living conditions of oyster fisherwomen in The Gambia and Senegal and at the same time revolutionise small boat fishing in the region.

Technical details

In co-operation with the Fraunhofer HHI and the partner company VoltaMove GmbH, low-cost, compact and service-friendly e-outboard motors were developed specifically for use and the requirements profile in sub-Saharan Africa. For the associated battery systems for supplying the motors with energy, we rely entirely on the use of innovative sodium-ion battery cell technology (NIB).

In contrast to conventional lithium-ion cell technology (LIB), NIB is characterised by a number of advantages:

  • No scarce raw materials such as lithium, nickel, manganese or cobalt are required to manufacture NIBs
  • the batteries can be operated completely safely (no risk of fire and/or explosion in the event of overcharging or deep discharge)
  • subsequent recycling is possible without any problems; the only residual materials are sodium (essentially common salt), iron and aluminium.

These NIB cells have only recently become commercially available. NIB storage systems are being developed and tested by the Fraunhofer HHI in Goslar and certified in co-operation with the VDE.

The batteries are to be charged via a foldable solar roof, which is mounted on the boat and can also be used on land afterwards if required. This concept was exhibited at this year’s “Boot 2024” boat show in Düsseldorf at the joint stand of the German Ocean Foundation with great success and resonance. An initial prototype has already been successfully used and tested on a tourist boat with the “Bird Watcher Association” in The Gambia.

Picture: left: Small fishing boat of the women’s group in Kartong. Right: President of the women’s oyster fishing group (left) with the oyster catch.

Supported by our partners

Technical support for the project with the oyster fisherwomen in Kartong is provided by our cooperation partner organisation NGO BenaBena The Gambia in Kitty near Brikama. We already have a long-term partnership with BenaBena in the field of renewable energy systems.

The second cooperation partner is the Serekunda-based University of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (USET). There is also a long-standing cooperation with USET. VoltaViewAfrica will supervise a bachelor’s thesis for a team of women in cooperation with USET, which aims to systematically investigate and evaluate the effects of e-mobility for the fisherwomen in terms of improving their quality of life, improving the profitability of the oyster fishing business model and avoiding overfishing of oysters in the mangrove forests.

Niedersächsische Bingo-Umweltstiftung supports environmental and nature conservation projects as well as projects in favour of development cooperation and the preservation of historical monuments. The foundation is financed by the gambling levy and above all by proceeds from the Bingo environmental lottery. Further information can be found at https://www.bingo-umweltstiftung.de/.

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