West African fisherfolk struggle against illegal commercial fleets

In many regions around the world, industrial fishing vessels are putting great pressure on ecosystems and the local communities that depend on them. Marine protected areas (MPAs) can help to protect fish stocks, but more still needs to be done to halt the illegal fishing activities that commercial fleets often engage in.

This problem is particularly acute in West Africa, where about 7 million people directly depend on fisheries for their livelihoods. In Senegal, where roughly one out of five people works in the fishing industry, the fisheries sector contributed around 4 per cent to GDP in 2016, one of the highest percentages among West African countries.

In order to address the threats posed by overfishing, mostly from highly subsidized industrial fishing operations, in 2004 the Senegalese government established five MPAs where some fishing is restricted, to be managed by the national government. The MPAs are intended to improve local communities’ living conditions by conserving biodiversity and boosting fishing yields, but some communities have opposed them because they restrict access to resources. For this reason, participatory approaches for the design, implementation, and management of MPAs are increasingly being promoted in Senegal, aiming to make MPAs both ecologically sustainable and socially fair by combining conservation and fisheries accessibility in one integrated system.

One example is the community-based MPA of Joal-Fadiouth, which is located on the Petite Côte 114 kilometers south of Dakar, the capital of Senegal. Joal-Fadiouth, which spreads over 17,400 hectares, includes the main artisanal fisheries landing dock in the country, and its waters are some of the most fish-rich in West Africa. Of the 420,000 metric tons of fish annually landed in the whole country, 130,000 are landed in Joal-Fadiouth, and one third of the pirogues that are licensed to fish in Senegal are operating in this area. Because the MPA is managed by the community, it is supported by much of the local population.

The president of the Joal-Fadiouth MPA’s management committee, Abdou Karim Sall, is a charismatic and well-known fisherman who has also been president of the local fisheries association since 2006. Sall stresses the importance of community management: “Everything that is being done for me but without me is done against me”, he says. “In the Joal-Fadiouth community-based MPA, fishermen are implementing their own management measures. For example, nighttime fishing has been forbidden in the area for the past nine years from May 1st to December 31st. When the [fisheries] minister suggested to enforce a four-months ban, the fishermen themselves advocated for an eight-months ban”. Increasingly, the MPA is also promoting environmental education and public awareness. The Joal-Fadiouth MPA has since its creation led the way in terms of best practices for the establishment and management of other MPAs in Senegal.

However, MPAs – whether in Senegal or elsewhere across the globe – have not always proven successful in safeguarding the resources on which coastal communities depend. Notably, pelagic fish stocks are decreasing fast, particularly where illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is increasing the already high pressure on marine ecosystems. Not only does IUU fishing threaten entire ecosystems, but it results in economic losses as high as $50 billion a year globally. West Africa is reportedly the most hit region by IUU fishing around the world. In 2012, Senegal lost about 2 per cent of its GDP to IUU fishing activities. Senegal’s IUU fishing problem, which stems mainly from foreign industrial vessels, affects the livelihoods of local fisherfolk and forces them to go further out to sea for longer periods of time.

Over the years, the worsening of this situation has led Sall and other fishers to patrol and monitor the Joal-Fadiouth MPA night and day in order to report criminal vessels to the Senegalese maritime authorities. The depletion of its fish stocks, partly worsened by other countries’ harmful industrial fisheries subsidies, is both socioeconomically and culturally problematic for Senegal. “Fish is a key source of animal protein for people”, says Sall. “Senegalese people eat 28 kilograms of fish per year. Try to imagine Senegal without a Thieboudienne!”, which is the traditional Senegalese fish-based meal.