Feature story - March 19, 2012
The effects that foreign trawlers are having in African waters are not simply confined to our fisheries. They are having strong ripple effects in local communities as well.
Foreign trawlers are emptying West Africa's oceans and exporting their catch to supermarkets in the EU and Russia. The effects this is having on fisheries is well documented, and it's not good news.
However we hear far less about the impact that foreign fishing is having on local communities in countries like Senegal and Mauritania.
Small-scale fishermen were once able to easily catch enough to feed their families and sell extra at local markets. These days they are forced to extremes to feed their families, often risking their lives to make the smallest of catches.
Overfishing is not simply an issue for fisheries and the environment, it’s a human rights and social justice issue too.
Watch the videos below, witness the injustice being inflicted on local people by foreign fishing fleets, and then join our call for fairer fishing!