Report of the National Census of Maritime Fisheries (Phase 3)

The report sets the census in context (1,770 km of coast, about 17,000 tonnes of fish produced a year against imports of about 16,000 tonnes, per capita consumption of about 4 kg) and describes its three-phase design, the questionnaires for each phase, a hierarchy of close to 700 staff and tablet-based data control. Phase 3 fieldwork, planned for July to October 2019, was halted by the socio-political events of late 2019 and again by the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020; data checks ran until October 2020 and some collection in Nord and Artibonite ended in November 2020.

The census counted 45,907 fishers, 98.96% of them men; Grand'Anse (20.4%), Ouest (17.6%) and Sud (16.6%) hold more than half. 17.7% have no schooling and 47.4% reached primary level. 67.6% have fished for more than 10 years, 37.5% migrate to fish, and only 1,343 fishers own an engine (1,511 engines in all). The national fleet is 24,627 units, 87.9% of them dugouts and canoes. Access to fishing gear is the most cited problem (74%), and fishing equipment is the top need (94%). 29,546 fishers have no toilet. The conclusion notes that only 37% of fishers receive technical support and that fishing is better organized in the greater South.