Senegalese ministers assured that their government, and not the European Union (EU), was the instigator of the shutdown, planned for Sunday evening, November 17, of fishing activities by European boats in national waters.
“Our friends in the European Union organized a press conference to tell the whole world that they have decided to no longer sign the fishing agreements with the government of Senegal. This is an absolute untruth”declared Wednesday evening the Minister of Higher Education, Abdourahmane Diouf, according to a video viewed Thursday on social networks.
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“It is the government of Senegal (…) which gave the signal a long time ago to tell them that we cannot continue to sign with [eux] fishing agreements that will impoverish Senegal’s fishermen”he said in the suburbs of Dakar during a meeting of the African Patriots of Senegal for work, ethics and fraternity (Pastef) in view of Sunday’s legislative elections.
“Failure” in the fight against illegal fishing
The European Union announced on Tuesday that the fishing agreement in force since 2019 would not be renewed and that European boats would stop fishing in Senegalese waters from midnight on Sunday. The EU invokes “failures” observed for several years by Senegal in the fight against illegal fishing.
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This announcement had a significant impact in Senegal, where fishing is a vital sector and in crisis. The approximately 50,000 Senegalese fishermen work mainly on traditional canoes. They constantly denounce competition from factory boats controlled by foreigners, to which they blame the scarcity of fish.
The agreement ends in a context of change at the head of the country. The new leaders have made a more equitable distribution of revenue from natural resources for the benefit of the Senegalese one of their mantras. The president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, requested in May “the audit of the Senegalese pavilion”characterized by its opacity, as well as the evaluation of fishing agreements and licenses.
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At the end of May, the European Commission sent what it presented as a “yellow card” in Senegal, identified as “non-cooperative country” in the face of illegal fishing. The Minister of Fisheries, Fatou Diouf, denied the EU the initiative to end the agreement. “The State was not yet in a position to negotiate”she assures in a video on social networks. “As soon as I arrived here, even before we received the yellow card, I had commissioned an evaluation and this evaluation is underway. We cannot order an assessment, wait for the results and think about a fishing agreement”she continues.
The end of the agreement concerns eighteen Spanish and French boats, according to the EU. The Senegalese ministry published in May a list of 151 industrial vessels authorized to fish in Senegalese waters, including nineteen Europeans and 132 flying the Senegalese flag. Various actors denounce the fact that many boats registered as Senegalese are in fact in the hands of foreigners, particularly Asians, who use pseudonyms. The list also listed 17,400 artisanal canoes.
