Since taking over as the President and CEO in January 2022, Patrick Tamia Tewuleh has lead a successful initiative providing Liberian artisanal fishermen with solar power systems for use on their fishing boats to improve productivity and safety at sea. The pilot for this innovative initiative is funded by USAID Power Africa and uses systems produced by Amped Innovation PBC, modified by LEN’s engineering staff for use in the marine environment. The successful pilot, while initially focusing on Robertsport, an important Atlantic fishing port near the Sierra Leone border, is rapidly expanding to other ports as demand for the technology increases.
Fish is the major source of protein in Liberia and critical to food security. Much of the fishing takes place at night, and the fishermen have, until this initiative, had only basic Kerosene lanterns to use for light during nighttime fishing operations. The new systems not only improve productivity, but also safety during night time operations by significantly increasing onboard lighting, making the boats more visible to ocean freighters which traverse their coastal fishing grounds, and eliminating a fire hazard. Because of the savings associated with operating the solar power systems over the cost of kerosene for lanterns, fishermen are not only increasing their catches, but are also increasing their incomes.
There are 5,600 fishing boats operating out of 120 landing sites along the coat of Liberia. The artisanal fishing industry employs 38,000, 60% of whom are women working as fishmongers.