On Monday, November 11, the representative of the European Commission in Senegal announced that the European Union had no intention of renewing the fisheries agreement that binds this entity with Senegal, and wanted to withdraw all European fishing boats from the Senegalese coast as of November 17. While this announcement surprised Senegalese public opinion, the public authorities have not made any official comment. Even the press release from the Council of Ministers that followed, passed over this affair in silence.

The scoop of the rupture 

It was by chance that two ministers of the Republic made statements on the issue. The Minister of Higher Education, Abdourahmane Diouf, took advantage of a political meeting of the ruling Pastef party to refute Mr. Jean-Marc Pisani’s statements, and declared: « Our friends from the European Union organized a press conference to tell the whole world that they have decided to no longer sign fishing agreements with the government of Senegal. This is an absolute untruth. » He specified: « It is the government of Senegal (…) which has long since given the signal to tell them that we cannot continue to sign fishing agreements that will impoverish Senegalese fishermen. » His colleague Ms. Fatou Diouf added to the same theme, saying that, well before the European Commission’s announcement, the Senegalese government had made it known that it was not in a position to renew the agreements as they stood. She promised to address the public after the legislative elections. We dare to think that this will probably not be long.

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If only to respond to the European Commission. Mr. Pisani and his services emphasized the fact that the fishing agreement would not be renewed because the country had not addressed the shortcomings noted by its partners, especially with regard to so-called INN fishing, namely illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The Europeans even added that, through this decision, they had “given Senegal a yellow card,” to encourage the authorities to take measures to correct the noted shortcomings.

Expected benefits of the decision

For the moment, depending on the reaction of public opinion, the authorities seem to be in a wait-and-see position, probably telling themselves that there is no urgency in this matter. Because if there is a feeling shared by the majority of Senegalese, it is that it is foreign vessels, mainly European, which are at the root of the scarcity of fish resources in the country. This scarcity, in addition to influencing the price of fish, an essential element of the national dish, « tiebu jën », rice with fish, also deprives many Senegalese of financial resources. Many international organisations have never hesitated to claim that the impoverishment of Senegalese populations living from coastal fisheries was due to strong competition from European trawlers. The Environmental Justice Foundation – EJF clearly blames European trawlers for the depletion of maritime resources in Senegal: “The environmentally destructive and unsustainable fishing practices of the trawling fleet are worsening the crisis in the artisanal fishing sector. Artisanal fishermen have seen the volume of their catches decrease considerably and are forced to compete for dwindling resources. » The NGO Greenpeace has also never been kind to the presence of foreign vessels, especially European and Chinese, in Senegalese waters.

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Most of these observers were quick to link the phenomenon of illegal migration of people from Senegal and certain countries in the African hinterland with the explosion of youth unemployment in Senegal and African countries. For a long time, the new political regime in Senegal never hesitated to revel in this pernicious rapprochement, which it put down to the power of its predecessor Macky Sall. And to show that things were going to change quickly, the Ministry of Fisheries, Maritime and Port Infrastructure rushed, in May 2024, to publish the list of vessels authorized to fish in Senegalese waters.  To show the level of hope raised by this declaration, many Senegalese had a kind of optical illusion, declaring that they saw the beaches filled with fish landed by fishermen. This was for some, the effect of the arrival of the “Messiah Diomaye”. However, the list was never followed by any other decision.

The “flaws” of a list

The list was made public without any comment from the authorities. However, a lot could have been said about it. We would have liked to have explanations on the fairly high number of formerly Chinese-registered vessels that subsequently changed flag to become Senegalese. More than thirty vessels are in this rather astonishing situation, while the Spanish and French vessels operating in Senegal during this census did not even number 20. One would have to be naive to accept that fewer than twenty European vessels are enough to scour Senegalese waters.

It was probably to protect herself from these criticisms that Ms Fatou Diouf, during her speech in front of certain cameras, in response to the question on the withdrawal of European ships, recalled that she had ordered an evaluation of the sector for which she was responsible, and while awaiting said evaluation, she could not consider negotiating a renewal of the agreement.

We could concede this point to our ministers, and nevertheless remind them that it is not the most important thing in the face of the stakes. If the Europeans were quick to communicate, it is undoubtedly because they felt in a position of strength. Did they not add that if things did not change, a « red card » could follow.  It would then be an embargo on Senegalese fish products on the European market.

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This would probably please some members of Pastef in power, and their cronies who think that sovereignty goes hand in hand with economic self-sufficiency. But would it suit the many players in industrial fishing whose exports sell well in Europe?

The sins of artisanal fishing

Even small-scale fishing stakeholders would like to avoid what would, all things considered, resemble a nuclear bomb. Trump’s arrival in power in the United States makes a broad opening of the American market illusory within the framework of Agoa, the renewal of which is currently under discussion. A closure of the European market would send a bad signal to all stakeholders. This is why the members of the African Confederation of Small-Scale Fisheries Organizations (Caopa) would not like to be taken by surprise, and are trying at their level to make their members aware of the need to respect the directives for the preservation of fisheries resources.

Gaoussou Guèye, the president of Caopa, is aware that INN fishing does not only concern large vessels, but also affects artisanal fishing, many of whose members operate on the margins of the rules: « Very often, at the level of our organizations, we accuse industrial fishing, particularly on the capture of juveniles. But there is also artisanal fishing that engages in it, which requires a good assessment, and encouraging stakeholders to adopt good fishing practices. And here we professional organizations have a role and a responsibility to play in the context of raising awareness among our members, fishermen, for a good safeguarding of the oceans and the resource. » Mr. Guèye’s speech is not yet popular, especially at the official level. But in the private sphere, everyone recognizes that he is absolutely right.

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How can we explain that the Senegalese government is not yet able, to date, to make a clear assessment of its fishing fleet? While some speak of 50,000 artisanal fishermen, figures from the ANSD indicated for 2020, more than 75,000 fishermen. Of the nearly 27,000 pirogues recorded in the same period, only 17,964 were registered, while around ten thousand had an artisanal fishing license. We must pay tribute to President Macky Sall for having been able to oil relations with our Mauritanian neighbours, thanks in particular to the sharing of hydrocarbon resources across our maritime border. Presidents Ghazouani and Sall were able to facilitate the acquisition of fishing licenses by Senegalese fishermen in Mauritania. For several years now, we have not heard any stories of Senegalese fishermen arrested for violating the fishing zones of Mauritania or Guinea-Bissau.

We will probably push European fishermen away from our coasts, which would be a good thing if the fishery resource returns and fully benefits the Senegalese. However, to achieve this, our actors would have to be subject to discipline and rules that allow the resource to be preserved, which is very far from being the case. Then, we should not replace the Spanish and the French with the Chinese, Koreans or Russians, who are even more predatory, and sometimes even less respectful of the rules of maritime fishing than those on whom we want to place the responsibility for all our ills.

If the promised evaluation does not adopt draconian measures in this direction, Senegalese fishing will continue to navigate in troubled waters.

By Mohamed GUEYE – mgueye@lequotidien.sn