WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Fisheries Need Transparent Regulation

By Isolda Agazzi
DAKAR, Feb 11 (IPS) Senegalese fishers participating in the 2011 World
Social Forum (WSF) warned
governments to "wake up to the ethical and transparent regulation of
access to
fisheries" to halt the overexploitation of this increasingly scarce
resource.

Charles Bakundakwita, executive secretary of the West African Association
for
the Development of Artisan Fishing (known by its French acronym ADEPA),
told IPS at the WSF that, "we ask African states and the European
Union to
consider this danger and limit the depletion of fish stocks, both by large
and
small fishers".

Fishing officially supplies work to 600,000 people in Senegal, or 17
percent
of the active working population. 400,000 tons are caught every year,
contributing 2,3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 30 percent of
exports. But the scarcity of fish is a major problem. During the
"soudure" -
the rainy season when there is no fish – people fall into debt.

Since 2007, Senegal has not renewed the fishing agreements with the
European Union (EU) that gave large European trawlers access to its
national
waters. The National Federation of Fishers Associations (known by its
French
acronym FENAGIE) has been key in the opposition to these fishing licences.

The licences meant insufficient financial compensation that did not
benefit
communities.

"Senegal received between 21 and 23 million dollars per year from
these
fishing agreements," Papa Gora Ndiaye, executive secretary of the
fishing
division of Enda Tiers Monde, known by its French acronym REPAO, told IPS
in
an interview. Enda Tiers Monde is an international non-governmental
organisation based in Dakar, working on development issues.

"But, compared to the export earnings of 165 to 207 million dollars,
the
financial compensation of the fishing agreements was ridiculous, if not
more
so considering the potential benefits of equitable trade. If market access
to
the EU was improved, Senegal could earn much more."

Even though Senegal, like all other least developed countries, can export
duty-free and quota-free to the EU under the Everything but Arms
initiative,
other technical barriers to trade such as rules of origin and sanitary and
phyto-sanitary measures make it hard for local fish to reach the European
market.

The fishing agreements with the EU largely contributed to the depletion of
resources, though FENAGIE recognises that the bad practices of Senegalese
fishers are to blame too.

Even though the licences have been suspended, fishers fear the existence
of
secret agreements with other foreign ship owners.

"Our main recommendation is to have transparent and ethical
governance of
fishing resources in West Africa," urged Ndiaye. "The WSF
provides
momentum for mobilisation and awareness-raising of stakeholders. It is a
window of opportunity for us."

Bakundakwita added that, "while fishing was a prosperous activity
some years
ago, small fishers are now getting poorer and poorer. Artisan fishing has
deteriorated. There are too many fishers: foreign trawlers, but also local
industrial and artisan fishers".

He explained that artisan fishermen do not only fish for their own
consumption anymore but to sell their product on the local market. The
best
catch goes to foreign, more lucrative markets. The depletion of stocks
makes
fish more and more expensive and many people cannot afford to buy it any
more.

This decrease in the availability of fish hits mainly women, who process
and
dry the fish. "If there is no more fish, they will be jobless and it
will be a
catastrophe," Bakundakwita believes.

The authorities are afraid to regulate, according to him. "Fishing
licences
bring money in. To limit the access of small fishers to the sea there need
to
be alternative activities for them, and there is none."

Ndiaye also expressed concern about the economic partnership agreements
(EPAs) currently being negotiated with the EU. The African market will be
open
to European products, like tuna that will come in at a lower cost than the
local
tuna.

"But even before the EPAs are adopted, there has been progressive
erosion of
commercial preferences. Senegalese tuna is hardly competitive on the
European market when compared to Asian tuna that is grown in aquaculture
with huge government support."