Nearly two-thirds of fishermen (65%) in Senegal say they earn less than five years ago, a consequence of the “unsustainable” and “environmentally destructive practices” of bottom trawlers, according to a report published Thursday 26 October by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), a London-based environmental organization.
“Beyond the loss of income, artisanal fishing communities are seeing their living conditions deteriorate,” indicates the EJF. For example, “88% of fishermen, 93% of processors and 100% of fishmongers reported having more limited access to fish for their own consumption.” The report is mainly based on interviews conducted with these communities between September 2022 and May 2023. It blacklists bottom trawlers in the fishing crisis in Senegal.
“Environmentally destructive and unsustainable fishing practices practiced by the trawler fleet are deepening the crisis in the artisanal fishing sector. Artisanal fishermen have seen the volume of their catches decrease considerably and are forced to compete with these boats “for dwindling resources,” says this report. In addition, artisanal fishermen face “illegal incursions” by these vessels “into the area reserved for artisanal fishing,” a situation that results in “the frequent destruction of fishing gear.” According to the report, 76% of fishermen have had their nets or lines damaged by a trawler.
Bottom trawlers in Senegal are essentially controlled by foreign actors from the European Union (EU) and China, explains the NGO: “They almost exclusively supply foreign markets, mainly those in EU countries. Meanwhile, many Senegalese households struggle to obtain fish supplies from local markets for their personal consumption. » Due in particular to the drop in their income, “a growing number” of fishermen “are forced to emigrate abroad”, in Europe in particular, in countries like Spain where arrivals of hundreds of Senegalese migrants have been observed in recent weeks.
Fishing contributes 3.2% of Senegal’s GDP and 10.2% of its exports, a 2022 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows.