Senegalese Fishermen Endure the Costs of Industrial and Illegal Fishing

Ibrahima Mar lost both his livelihood and his kid when the fish off Senegal’s coast began to disappear, upending a way of life that had sustained his family for generations. Industrial and illegal fishing, among other reasons, have contributed to a severe drop in the region’s fish resource, depriving the West African country of a traditional source of sustenance and revenue.

According to Mar, who lives in Rufisque, a fishing town in Dakar, fish have been “increasingly plundered” in recent years. The 55-year-old fisherman, a member of the Lebou ethnicity, a traditional fishing group, told AFP from one of Rufisque’s boat landings that the fish had been “taken off our path.” So there is no hope left.

Bottom trawlers and other industrial ships flagged in Senegal but whose owners’ true nationalities are difficult to establish, export their catch elsewhere. According to Bassirou Diarra, country manager for Senegal at the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), the vessels are owned by Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, and Turkish nationals. Not only is there a lack of fish for the Senega.

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