Bassirou Diomaye Faye became the youngest president in the history of Senegal. He promised to restore the sovereignty of his country and to do this, he wants to renegotiate oil and gas contracts as well as fishing agreements concluded in the past.
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17% of Senegal’s active population, or 600,000 people, live directly or indirectly from fishing. But the industrial overfishing practiced in Senegalese waters is such that fish are becoming rare, to the great despair of local fishermen who are deprived of their livelihood and are sometimes forced to set sail to reach the Canary Islands.
Senegalese fishermen have become potential migrants. The overexploitation of fishing resources is partly linked to agreements signed with the European Union, which allow boats under European license to come and fish in Senegal’s exclusive zone. Each year, these ships leave with 10,000 tonnes of tuna and 1,700 tonnes of black hake against 3 million euros that Europe pays in return to Dakar.
Senegalese fishermen accuse these huge trawlers of coming too close to their coasts and literally plundering their funds, especially since they collect small fish in their nets like sardines or anchovies which feed the local population. The new president of Senegal therefore wants to reserve the first 12 nautical miles, or around 20 kilometers from the coast, for artisanal fishermen to keep industrial boats away and give priority to the worst wars.
Senegalese boats fish for other countries
In theory, only Senegalese vessels or vessels operated by a country that has an agreement with Dakar are authorized to fish. But some of the boats would be operated by front companies based in Senegal and which operate on behalf of third countries. 20% of them would thus be linked to Chinese beneficiaries. However, Beijing has never signed fishing agreements with Senegal.
Chinese trawlers generally operate under the cover of a Senegalese nominee. They practice destructive fishing. They are the ones who most impact local fishermen, who also complain about the lack of transparency in the allocation of fishing licenses.
Four years ago, Greenpeace Africa highlighted licenses granted without official approval from the Ministry of Fisheries to four Chinese vessels, to the detriment of artisanal fishermen whose licenses have been frozen since 2012. The fight against corruption, t is also one of the priorities of the new President Faye, who promised his fellow citizens a break with the past.