The Environmental Justice Foundation and partners have launched a new project to help tackle the illegal fishing that is threatening food security and livelihoods in Senegal.
Fishing is a vital source of food and income in the country, contributing nearly 3.2% to GDP and providing over 600,000 jobs. However, illegal fishing is threatening this crucial resource with more than 30 industrial vessels, including trawlers and pole-and-line tuna vessels, arrested for illegal fishing in 2020.
With funding from Oceans 5, the new three-year project, entitled ‘Reinforcing the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in Senegal through improved fisheries governance and transparency’ will advocate for and help support an increase in transparency, seen as vital to tackling the problem.
Data is difficult to access and understand and decision making opaque. The EJF believes that making data public, such as lists of vessels licensed to fish in Senegalese waters, will help governments, businesses and NGOs eradicate illegal fishing from supply chains.
The projects also aims to provide support and guidance for inspections of fishing vessels at the port of Dakar to ensure they reach the standards stipulated under the ‘Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing’, which Senegal ratified in 2017.
Finally, the project will strengthen the participation of small-scale fishers in decision making, ensuring that their voices are heard alongside government and industry.
