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Fishermen in El Wargadhi, a coastal village 160km (100 miles) north-east of the Somali capital Mogadishu, recently spotted a foreign fishing boat trawling just offshore. Incensed, they jumped into small boats to head it off. They were fired on before they could get near. No one was killed in the ensuing battle, except for sheep picking along the beach behind. Still, the locals were depressed. Foreign boats without flags or markings have been stealing their fish for years. Once, they could scare them off with a shout and a rocket-propelled grenade-launcher. No longer. These days, the fishermen say, the unmarked vessels carry 23mm anti-aircraft guns. East African waters, off the coasts of Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania, have vast numbers of commercial fish species. As in other countries, east Africans enjoy exclusive fishing rights up to 370km (200 nautical miles) off their shores, but the rich pickings are attracting a growing number of intruders. The prize catch is the yellowfin tuna, which lures Taiwanese and South Korean longliners from the Seychelles into Somali waters, where the catch is a potential bonanza.
But the risks are high, especially off ungoverned Somalia. Even with anti-aircraft guns, some of the vessels are still captured by Somali "coastal patrols". In a recent case, a South Korean boat, the Dongwon-ho, was released after four months in return for $800,000; "a fine", the Somalis said, "a ransom", to the South Koreans. Some longliners used to buy fishing licences in the past, but invariably from the wrong warlord.
The situation is only a little better in Kenya and Tanzania. In both countries a lack of capital has produced pitiful fishing fleets. Corruption, rife enough on land, is even worse at sea. Illegal and unreported fishing accounts for much of the catch. Marine conservationists say that pretty much
everything is wrong with the fishing in east Africa. There is no compliance, limited monitoring and the boats use gear that rips up the seabed and, in some places, the coral reefs. Fish stocks are falling, and their indiscriminate human predators also slaughter numberless dolphins and rare turtles, which get snagged on the lines.
The EU has negotiated a deal to buy a share of African countries‘ fishing rights, and says it hopes this will help to regulate the industry. But European fishermen are as ruthless, if not more so, than any in Africa. The fear is that not enough money will flow back into the local economies, and too many European boats will fly flags of convenience to get around the regulations.
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