An
investigation by the Environmental Justice Foundation has found that nine out
of 10 trawlers caught fishing illegally in Sierra Leone send their catch to
Europe. The government is working to fight the problem.
A two-year
investigation by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has found evidence
of illegally caught fish entering the European market. The British-based
environmental and human rights charity says nine out of 10 trawlers caught
fishing illegally in Sierra Leone are actually accredited to export their catch
to Europe.
The EJF
claims that West Africa has the highest levels of illegal fishing in the world,
and says it found evidence of bribery, attacks on local fisherman, the use of
banned fishing equipment and trawlers fleeing to neighboring countries to avoid
fines. The group is calling for vessels to be blacklisted, and it wants the
European Union to strengthen regulations to stop illegal catches from entering
Europe.
 |
| The government in Freetown is struggling to combat illegal fishing |
In less
than two years, the EJF has received 252 reports from local fisherman of pirate
fishing along the coast.
"The
problems are many," Siaka Swarary, a local fisherman from the outskirts of
the capital, Freetown, told DW. He says the trawlers that operate far out at
sea are ruining the livelihoods of the local fisherman.
"We
are disturbed by the bigger trawlers. Sometimes we go one, two, three days
[without a] catch." Swarary says his brother lost a fisherman at sea last
year when a trawler hit his boat at night and didn't stop to help, leaving the
man to drown.
"Our
wives, our children…everyone is suffering because we are surviving from this
fishing. Without fishing we cannot pay school fees for our children or take
care of our family," he said.
A blow to
the economy
Sierra
Leone loses around $30 million (23.4 million euros) every year through illegal
fishing. For a country trying to rebuild itself after more than a decade of
civil war, it's crushing for the economy.
Soccoh
Kabia, the minister of fisheries and marine resources, says the main problem is
that trawlers come inside the exclusion zone – an area reserved for local
fisherman.
 |
| Many subsistance fishermen are just barely gettting by |
"Many,
not all of them, have disregarded that regulation with impunity and have often
threatened the lives of fishermen, destroyed their gear, destroyed the
environment. The [fish] spawning ground is in that area, so they have
definitely affected the development of those areas," he said.
But Kabia,
who has been working closely with the EJF and other partners, says things are
slowly improving and that they have already collected more than $1 million in
fines over the last 18 months. Last year, the West Africa Regional Fisheries
Program, supported by the World Bank, began its work to combat illegal fishing.
"Recently,
the government of Liberia had a vessel that escaped prosecution there, and they
contacted our minister here in Sierra Leone to see if we could assist in
arresting this vessel," said Salieu Sankoh, the program's national project
coordinator in Sierra Leone. "We were able to arrest [the crew] and send
[them] back to Liberia, which to us is a big feather in our cap."
More needs
to be done
The EJF
says more needs to be done to help West African coastal states reinforce their
own security systems, so that more of these arrests can be made. It's calling
for the EU to strengthen regulations, as well as the penalties for illegal
fishing.
Swarary and
his fellow fishermen have noticed fewer trawlers, but he says they still come
at night, under the cover of darkness. He says he's doing everything he can to
keep his children from following in his footsteps.
"It's
a very hard life. I'm suffering so much," he said. "I don't want my
children following me. That's why I prefer to suffer myself and put them
[through] school, and maybe after school they will get a better job."
Related Articles:
Is the EU taking its over-fishing habits to west African waters?
Seven steps to prevent the collapse of west Africa's fishing grounds
Fishermen from Gaza risk their lives at work
Is the EU taking its over-fishing habits to west African waters?
Seven steps to prevent the collapse of west Africa's fishing grounds
 |
Fishermen return from their night's labours. About 1 million
people in Senegal depend on the industry for food.
Photograph: Randy Olson/National Geographic/Getty Images
|
Fishermen from Gaza risk their lives at work
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.