Ending agreements with the EU will not be enough to save Senegalese fishermen
Since November 2024, European fishing boats have no longer been welcome in Senegalese waters. The new government accused them of contributing to the overexploitation of the country's fisheries resources. The local newspaper “L'Observateur” visited Dakar fishermen in February. While they are now finding rare species, they are more than ever faced with the precarious nature of their profession.
As the sun sets toward the sea, Soumbédioune Beach [in Dakar] offers a striking spectacle. The sun slowly declines behind the Magdalen Islands archipelago, bathing the ocean in a golden glow. Seabirds, slender silhouettes against a fiery sky, dive into the water column, skimming the surface with a quick peck in search of prey.
The capricious swell stirs up floating debris that drifts with the currents, silent witnesses to human activity. On the shore, the atmosphere is strangely calm at 6 p.m. this Wednesday. A single boat, almost empty-handed, is brought back by the surf. On board, two fishermen, their faces weathered by salt and wind, express muted disappointment.
Three months after the end of the fishing agreements between Senegal and the European Union (EU) [concluded in 2014 and renewed for the first time in 2019, the latter were not renewed, the European side citing “failures” in the fight against illegal fishing, and the Senegalese side overexploitation of fishery resources at the expense of local populations], the impact of this decision still seems imperceptible. On the quayside, stakeholders in the artisanal fishing industry
Courrier International
