The Ministry of Fisheries published on Monday a list of vessels authorized to fish in Senegalese waters, a decision intended to respond “the principle of transparency in the management of natural resources”.
“This is a big step for transparency in the management of fisheries resources in Senegal,” Aliou Ba, head of the Ocean campaign for Greenpeace Africa, told AFP.
NGOs have been calling for the publication of such a list for years, while Senegalese fishing suffers from overexploitation of resources.
The licenses granted to industrial shipowners, particularly European and Chinese, are an old and constant grievance.
The new Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, inaugurated in April, promised to restore sovereignty that he believes had been sold off and to reassess fishing agreements.
Fishing directly or indirectly supports around 600,000 Senegalese for a population of around 18 million, according to the UN.
The list published Monday lists 132 industrial vessels flying the Senegalese flag, 19 foreign ones and more than 17,400 artisanal canoes authorized to fish in Senegalese waters as of May 6.
Various players in the sector denounce the fact that many industrial boats registered as Senegalese are in fact in the hands of foreigners who use nominees.
“We welcome the publication of this list. Now we must go further by carrying out an independent audit” of the Senegalese fleet, pleaded with AFP Babacar Sarr, secretary general of the National Interprofessional Council for Artisanal Fishing, a union in the sector.
Most of the approximately 50,000 Senegalese fishermen work on narrow traditional canoes and have faced competition in recent decades from foreign factory boats, with their vast nets and automated equipment.
The authorities are publishing this list while the protocol in force since 2019 between the European Union and Senegal expires in November and must give rise to a prior evaluation by the Europeans before the opening of new negotiations.
WITH AFP
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