“Finding legal loopholes to license foreign vessels is unethical”

Senegal’s Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy issued a press release on October 12, 2020 rejecting the main findings of Greenpeace Africa’s recent report titled “Seasickness: While West Africa Is Contained by COVID-19, its waters remain open to looting ”.

According to the press release of the ministry “the totally unfounded allegations contained in the said report are all the more surprising, as on several occasions (…) the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy has always provided insights, details and denials, whenever necessary, with regard to the actors, national and international public opinion ”.

In response to the accusations contained in the press release of the ministry, Dr Ibrahima Cissé, head of the oceans campaign of Greenpeace Africa, declares that: “the ministry in charge of fisheries has not provided any element of response to the ongoing controversy. . Greenpeace Africa had already officially contacted the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy about these foreign vessels on two occasions since the start of 2020. But the ministry did not consider it necessary to respond to our requests.

“Instead of blaming civil society, government authorities should choose transparency and make public the list of vessels authorized to fish in the Senegalese exclusive economic zone (EEZ), including the type and date of attribution. licenses to remove any ambiguity. Better still, the ministry should enlighten public opinion by specifying at the end of which meetings of the Consultative Commission for the Allocation of Industrial Fisheries Licenses (CCALP) the requests of these boats, the subject of the controversy, were examined and the actors present. ”

In 2012, Mr. Cissé recalls, Macky Sall, candidate for the presidential elections, supported Greenpeace Africa’s campaign against foreign fishing boats that exploit Senegalese marine stocks. Once elected, he kept his promise to stop this selling off; which even earned it the “Excellence in National Stewardship of the Ocean” award at the sixth edition of the Peter Benchley Ocean Awards, for its policy of protecting Senegalese fisheries.

Greenpeace Africa congratulated President Sall on urging him to maintain the license freeze until scientific studies prove that fish stocks in Senegalese waters have recovered. According to the ministry’s press release, Greenpeace works with industrial and artisanal fishing organizations.

Dr Cissé replies that: “Greenpeace Africa has consistently denounced the monopolization of pelagic resources and tonnage fraud by industrial fishing. But the authorities have not reacted to this day. In 2017, an expedition organized by Greenpeace in collaboration with the Member States of the Commission Sous Régionale des Pêches (CSRP) had identified many vessels practicing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and sanctions were taken to against some of these boats.

Contrary to what the ministry claims, the fishmeal factories actually use fresh fish which is knowingly left in a rotten state, as their capacity far exceeds the tonnages of waste produced ”.

Dr Cissé adds: “Finding loopholes in the legal system to license vessels when stocks are overexploited and people are undernourished is unethical. Greenpeace remains and will always remain on the side of truth and transparency – regardless of the status of its counterpart ”.

Greenpeace Africa reiterates its commitment to support women fish processors, artisanal fishermen and communities affected by this plundering of fishery resources and calls again for: the publication of the list of industrial fishing vessels in Senegal, as well as the type and the date of issue of the licenses; the practical elimination of all production of fishmeal from fresh fish, the reorientation of the processing capacity of fishmeal and fish oil towards products intended for direct human consumption and the professional recognition of women fish processors and their support so that they enjoy their rights.