 |
Illegal fishing off West
Africa ©Jonathan Jacobsen (AFP)
|
"Catastrophic"
levels of illegal fishing in West Africa are costing the region millions in
lost revenue and hundreds of thousands of jobs, a development think tank said
Wednesday.
AFP report continues:
Countries such as
Senegal, Sierra Leone and Mauritania are missing out on vital income because of
the masses of fish taken from their waters by trawlers from as far afield as
South Korea, according to research by Britain's Overseas Development Institute
(ODI).
Senegal lost US$300
million, or 2.0 percent of its GDP, to the practice in 2012, while Sierra Leone
-- one of the region's poorest nations -- missed out on US$29 million, said the
report, entitled "Western Africa's Missing Fish".
A lack of government
transparency in the region, limited capacity to patrol the seas and legal
loopholes once West Africa's fish arrive in Europe, its biggest market, were
all contributing to the situation, report author Alfonso Daniels told AFP.
"It's a huge problem
and it's only getting worse," he said.
West Africa's
"illegal" fish are transported in giant refrigerated containers mixed
with other cargo to escape scrutiny at port, Daniels explained.
"Four-fifths are
coming through container ships and (they) are not considered at all by the
anti-illegal fishing legislation of the European Union, which is the largest
market for fish in the world," Daniels said.
Europe is the destination
for 44 percent of all West Africa's fish exports.
Despite this loophole,
the EU remains a leader in sanctioning producers of illegal fish.
 |
The ship pictured was
boarded after it was observed illegally fishing in Senegalese waters near the
border with Guinea Bissau, Lieutenant-Colonel Adama Diop, a military
communications officer, told AFP ©Seyllou (AFP)
|
Meanwhile, a series of
opaque agreements between West African nations and the likes of Russia, China
and South Korea mean that the scale of the region's "missing fish"
could be much larger.
"Fisheries
agreements... should be public and openly available as they are with the
European Union," Daniels said.
And if Africa fished its
own waters rather than striking shady deals with other countries, more money
would flow into the governments' coffers.
The sale of fishing
rights to foreign operatives netted Africa US$400 million in 2014, according to
the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, but could in theory generate US$3.3
billion if the continents own fleets caught and exported the fish.
Another practical step
towards combating the problem would be creating a blacklist of illegal vessels.
The ODI report estimated
more than 300,000 new jobs could be created if measures such as a global
tracking system for fishing vessels were instituted, loopholes were closed and
a blacklist created.
"Further development
benefits would derive from increased export revenue. Sustainable management of
fisheries resources would also strengthen food security," the report said.
Achieving "marine environmental sustainability" would stop permanently depleting endangered stocks and would provide a long-term income, it said.
No comments:
Post a Comment