Take -away meals: Gambias fishermen are caught in a seawar with strange vessels

Banjul, Gambia (AP) video obtained exclusively by the Associated Press documents is an emerging problem in the struggle for dominance between Gambian fishermen and commercial vessels in foreign possession in West African waters. Local fishermen, angry about what they call illegal exceeding and sabotage by foreign vessels, confronted one of the boats, Egyptian possession Abu Islam. Video footage shows the unintended result: a local fisherman, part of the crew of the foreign vessel, shrinks with severe burns of arson attack by his countrymen. Gambians are now fighting Gambians at sea, powered by market forces – and foreign appetite – beyond their control. The problem comes from attempted reforms. To say and pay the locals more, in commercial fishing, the Gambia government now needs foreign vessels operating abroad to carry a certain percentage of Gambian crew. Those residents became accidental targets of an anger they understood well after trying to possess with the Chinese and compete other strange vessels with a little more than small wooden boats and their bare hands. The video was shared by the Association of Gambia Sailors. The AP has reviewed more than 20 such videos from different sources since 2023. “It’s like most of them, if they go fishing, it’s as if they are waging war,” said Abdou Sanyang, secretary general of the Association of Gambia Matrosis. Over the past two years, the Gambia government has increased the quota for local crew on fishing vessels in foreign possession from 20% to at least 30%, which means more potential for Gambians fighting. The fighting threatens to tear fishing communities apart, while overfishing seafood buyers around the world, undermining livelihoods for all. There is concern that the fish population outside Gambia could collapse in the coming years. It would be a business and environmental disaster in a small country with two most important economic managers: tourism and seafood. Gambia’s fishermen have known no other work for generations. Now the financial pressure is leading to compete with foreign vessels, some to give up. They are tempted to sell their boats for use in another growing industry: migration to Europe by the risky Atlantic waters. Some of the fishermen themselves become migrants in the hope of another kind of happiness at sea. Leigh, who can’t maintain his family, is now considering it. Brothers Famara and Salif Ndure say they have lost more than half of their fishing nets to foreign trawlers who draw on the nets and damage them. They said foreign vessels have become more and more aggressive since the current government of President Adama Barrow took over after former dictator Yahya Jammeh in 2017. Gambia reopened its waters for foreign possession that year. Famara said fishing nets are cut regularly at night when foreign vessels go beyond authorized zones. Local fishermen have exclusive fishing rights within 9 nautical miles from the shore, but they claim that the trawlers are as close as 5. This made clashes inevitable. He and his brother once had 15 nets. Now they have three. A single net line can cost $ 100, which makes the replacement almost impossible in a country where the per capita revenue is below $ 1,000. The trawlers are destroying the nation, the brothers said, claiming that incidents are reported, but nothing is being done. They think the money the government earns from the licensing of foreign trawlers is the reason. Licensing fees vary, with some vessels paying the equivalent of $ 275 a tonne. The Gambia government did not respond to questions from the AP. Most of the foreign trawlers work without proper documentation and with unauthorized equipment, Lamin Jassey, president of the Gunjur Conservationists and Ecotourism Association. The local group advocates for better fishing policy. One important case reached the Gambia court on fishing conflicts, and the other is being prepared. One is the arson attack involving Leigh’s vessel. The other is a collision last year between a foreign trawler, identified by local fishermen as the Majilac 6, and a local vessel that killed three local fishermen. These are rare cases in a country where the pursuit of justice takes time and cash that many people do not have. Omar Abdullah Jagne, the managing director of the Majilac group of vessels – whose owners come from different countries – did not respond to AP questions. The owner of the Majilac 6 was not clear. The government tried to patrol the seas. In March last year, before the deadly collision, the armed maritime interdiction units with the Gambia fleet detained eight foreign trawlers for offenses, including fishing in protected waters, fishing without a valid license, the catch the catch and the lower mesh, which collects fish smaller than allowed. It was a rare deployment. Gambia’s Navy from Swing Resources relied on international support from non -profit organizations to look at its waters. The Majilac 6 was under the vessels detained. But the vessels soon returned to the sea. Offenses are not fixed and can be negotiated. Repeat offenders are facing little punishment. Outside observers of the fishing industry in Gambia is little to no. Sea Shepherd, a non -profit conservation group, has an agreement with Gambia to collectively patrol the country’s waters, but did not visit last year as part of his mission to combat illegal fishing in West Africa. The conflict at sea outside Gambia occurs as fish stock drops. Fishes, including Grouper, Cuttfish, Sardinella and Bonga, are elicited too much, according to an Amnesty International Report in 2023. The Sailors Association believes that foreign vessels will eventually move in the waters of countries such as Sierra Leone and Guinee Bissau, and will seek more fish and less contrast. Diminishing fish supplies affected food security in Gambia. Prices have risen and fish out of reach, even for many people who pull them out of the sea. Instead, the majority of Gambians ‘depends on chicken imported from the world, which is very sad,’ Jassey said. ___ Associated Press author Mustapha Meneh in Banjul, Gambia, contributed. ___ This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is exclusively responsible for all content. ___ Contact AP’s global investigative team at investigator @ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/