Conflict over fishing turns violent off Gambia's coast | DW News

Key Concepts

• Sea War: Term used to describe the violent conflict between local artisanal fishermen and foreign-owned industrial trawlers in Gambian waters.
• Foreign-owned Trawlers: Large industrial fishing vessels, often from distant water fishing nations, accused of encroaching on local fishing grounds.
• Artisanal Fishermen: Local, small-scale fishermen who rely on traditional methods and are highly dependent on fish resources for their livelihoods.
• Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing: Fishing activities that violate national or international laws, are not reported to authorities, or are conducted by vessels without proper authorization. A major contributor to fish stock depletion.
• Monitoring, Surveillance, and Control (MSC): The systems and processes used by governments to oversee and enforce fisheries regulations. Weak MSC is a significant problem in West Africa.
• Distant Water Fishing Vessels/Nations: Industrial fleets and the countries they originate from (e.g., China, South Korea, EU) that operate far from their home waters.
• Fisheries Partnership Agreements (FPA) / Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPA): Bilateral agreements between coastal states and distant water fishing nations, often criticized for not providing equitable benefits.
• Fish Meal Industry: An industry that processes fish (often small pelagic species) into fishmeal and fish oil, primarily for aquaculture and animal feed, raising concerns about food security and overexploitation.
• Harmful Subsidies: Government financial support to fishing fleets that can contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, making unsustainable practices economically viable.
• Maritime Security Crisis: The escalation of fisheries issues, livelihood threats, and conflict at sea to a level that impacts national and regional security.
• Root Causes Approach: A methodology for addressing complex security issues by identifying and tackling the underlying social, economic, and environmental factors.
• Climate Change Impact on Fisheries: The effects of global warming, such as ocean warming and acidification, on fish populations and marine ecosystems.
• Marine Pollution: Contamination of the marine environment by substances like plastics, oil, and industrial waste, further exacerbating fish stock depletion.

The "Sea War" in The Gambia: A Conflict Over Dwindling Resources

Tensions in The Gambia's waters have escalated into a "sea war" between local artisanal fishermen and foreign-owned industrial trawlers. Local industry officials describe a growing number of violent incidents, including attacks on foreign trawlers and even conflicts among local fishermen themselves. Fishermen accuse foreign trawlers of encroaching into unauthorized coastal areas and sabotaging their equipment. An example cited is an arson attack on an Egyptian-owned vessel in July last year, which left Gambian crew members, like Kosu Lee, with severe burns and fearing for their future. Local fishermen believe their livelihoods are under direct threat, claiming industrial trawlers now fish as close as "three, four kilometers down here" from shore, compared to "15, 20 kilometers up" previously, destroying their nets. They attribute this to the government's 2017 decision to reopen its waters to foreign vessels. While the Gambian government has attempted to mitigate the issue by requiring a quota of local crew on foreign vessels and deploying its poorly resourced navy, local communities demand more robust protection of their rights and futures.

Root Causes of the Conflict and Fish Stock Depletion

Dr. Ephesinachi Okafo Yawoud, a lecturer in sustainable futures at the University of St. Andrews and a Pew Marine Fellow, explains that the conflict stems from the critical significance of fish resources for Gambians and West Africans, serving as a vital source of food, protein, and livelihoods for millions. The sustainability of these resources is threatened by several factors:

• Marine Pollution: Including plastic and oil pollution.
• Climate Change: Significantly contributing to depletion. Research indicates that unless fisheries governance improves, West African fisheries production could reduce by up to 23% by 2050, with countries like Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d'Ivoire potentially facing reductions of up to 63%.
• Overfishing: Primarily driven by Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing by distant water industrial vessels.
• Fish Meal Industries: Pollution from waste products of these industries further exacerbates the problem.

These combined pressures lead to a severe depletion of fish stocks, leaving local artisanal fishers with less and less fish. The direct cause of conflict is the encroachment of industrial vessels into inshore areas specifically reserved for artisanal fishers, coupled with perceived government inaction or complicity, as these vessels often operate under government-issued licenses or fisheries partnership agreements.

Enforcement Challenges and Regional Implications

While laws regarding fishing zones are clear in The Gambia and many other West African nations, the core problem lies in weak enforcement due to "limited monitoring, surveillance, and control" (MSC). This lack of effective oversight leads local fishermen to act as "vigilantes," driven by a belief that the government is not addressing the issue and potentially by "some sort of element of corruption" allowing vessels to operate close to shore despite clear visibility.

The issue extends beyond The Gambia, with Dr. Yawoud highlighting similar patterns in other unstable regions:

• Somalia: Illegal fishing by foreign vessels and illegal toxic waste dumping in the early 1990s were cited as justifications for the rise of piracy.
• Nigeria's Niger Delta: Degradation of the ocean environment and the resulting deprivation and helplessness of coastal communities have been linked to militancy and piracy. This demonstrates a recurring connection between community frustration, a feeling of helplessness, and actions that can inadvertently have negative implications for state and personal security.

Beneficiaries of Illegal Fishing and Economic Impact

The primary beneficiaries of this "systematic and widespread theft" of Africa's fish stocks are "distant water fishing vessels, the distant water fishing nations."

• Financial Losses: A 2017 research paper estimated that six West African countries (Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone) lost $2.3 billion annually to IUU fishing.
• Artisanal Fishermen's Income Decline: A 2016 World Bank report noted that the income of artisanal fishers in West Africa had reduced by 40% in the preceding decade. These distant water fishing nations, including those from Asia (specifically China, South Korea) and entities like the European Union, benefit through "Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements" or licensing agreements. However, the compensation paid to governments is often "very small in comparison to the actual compensation they pay to the government," effectively allowing them to "plunder the resources in exchange for peanuts."

The Conflict as a Security Crisis

Dr. Yawoud asserts that this is "already a security crisis." The UN Secretary-General and the UN Peacebuilding Commission (2023) have both emphasized a "root causes approach" to maritime security, recognizing that addressing threats to the livelihoods of coastal communities is crucial to solving broader maritime security issues like piracy. When livelihoods are threatened, people become "hopeless prayers in the hands of criminal network," potentially acting as informants or navigators. In extreme cases, fishermen abandon their profession and risk their lives through irregular migration to Europe via the Mediterranean, as "there's nothing else for them to do." This situation is increasingly recognized by governments as a direct maritime security threat.

Proposed Solutions and Policy Recommendations

To address this multifaceted crisis, Dr. Yawoud suggests several practical steps for The Gambia and its partners:

1. Revisit Fisheries Partnership Agreements: The Gambia's FPA with the European Union expired in July this year. The country could follow Senegal's example, which refused to renew its SFPA and is renegotiating for a stronger policy. The Gambia should "place pause or sort of pause on their agreement to agree on what better way to ensure that they able to monitor, survey and control the activities of the vessels they are licensing."
2. Implement Global Fisheries Subsidies Agreement: With the WTO's Global Fisheries Subsidies Agreement coming into force on September 15th this year, countries should collectively "walk the talk on actually putting an end to harmful subsidies" that enable foreign vessels to plunder resources.
3. Re-evaluate the Fish Meal Industry: There is a need to "revisit this whole idea of fish mill industry and the way that they operate" due to concerns about overexploitation, particularly the problematic practice of "taking fish from human to feed fish so that you can feed human."
4. Promote Transparency, Equity, and Fair Benefit Sharing: A broader conversation is needed around these principles in all fisheries agreements and licensing arrangements to ensure that the benefits generated are equitably shared and truly compensate the host nation.

Conclusion: Main Takeaways

The "sea war" in The Gambia is a complex crisis rooted in the depletion of vital fish stocks due to marine pollution, climate change, and rampant IUU fishing by foreign industrial trawlers. Weak enforcement of clear laws, coupled with perceived government inaction and potential corruption, fuels local frustration and vigilantism. This conflict is not merely a fisheries issue but an escalating maritime security crisis, with significant economic losses for West African nations and severe threats to the livelihoods and personal security of coastal communities. Addressing this requires a multi-pronged approach, including renegotiating fisheries agreements for stronger oversight, ending harmful subsidies, re-evaluating the fish meal industry, and fostering greater transparency and equity in resource management. Failure to act risks further destabilization and human suffering.