European boats will stop fishing in Senegal following the non-renewal of an agreement

Boats flying the European flag will stop fishing in Senegalese waters from the evening of Sunday, November 17, after the non-renewal of an agreement between Brussels and Dakar, the ambassador of the European Union (EU) announced on Tuesday, November 12. ), Jean-Marc Pisani. The agreement in force since 2019 and expiring Sunday evening at midnight is not renewed for the moment due to “failures” notified on May 27 by the European Commission to the State of Senegal in the fight against illegal fishing, the diplomat told journalists in Dakar.

“European boats will stop fishing in Senegal’s exclusive economic zone from midnight on November 17. These European boats will be able – it will be the choice of the shipowners – to continue to fish elsewhere”he clarified, citing the existence of agreements between the EU and Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania or Cape Verde. “It would not be coherent for the European Union, which has a zero tolerance policy towards IUU fishing [illicite, non déclarée et non réglementée], to renew an agreement with countries which have been notified of this type of difficulty”he added.

The cessation of fishing in Senegalese waters will concern 18 Spanish and French boats which fish for tropical tuna and hake and do not represent real competition for Senegalese fishing, explained Jean-Marc Pisani.

In May, the European Commission sent what it presented as a “yellow card” in Senegal, identified as “non-cooperative country” regarding illegal fishing. She deplored “serious shortcomings” and “failures in monitoring, control and surveillance systems” for vessels flying the Senegalese flag in extraterritorial waters as well as for foreign vessels at the port of Dakar. She reported “illegal exports from Senegal to the EU” and said to leave Dakar the possibility of “react and remedy the situation within a reasonable time”.

A sector in crisis

Fishing is a vital sector in Senegal, economically but also culturally. It is also a sector in crisis. Coastal localities provide a significant portion of the hundreds of illegal migrants who attempt to reach Europe by the Atlantic every month, at the risk of their lives, aboard overloaded and dilapidated canoes.

Fishing directly or indirectly supports around 600,000 Senegalese people for a population of around 18 million inhabitants, according to a commonly accepted figure. The approximately 50,000 Senegalese fishermen, who work mainly on traditional canoes, constantly denounce competition from factory boats controlled by foreigners, to which they blame the scarcity of fish.

The controversy over the share of foreign fishing in the crisis was rekindled with the election as president in March of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who promised to restore sovereignty that he considers to have been sold off in this and other areas. . His prime minister, Ousmane Sonko, campaigning for the legislative elections, attacked again, Monday evening in the coastal town of Bargny, these “foreign ships [qui] come to plunder all [leur]s resources »reported the news site Dakaractu.

The European ambassador recalled that under the existing agreement, European boats were only authorized to draw on excess stocks. While the agreement allowed 10,000 tonnes to be fished every year, European boats only caught 10,000 tonnes over five years, he said. The agreement brought the Senegalese state a contribution of 8.5 million euros over five years, to which are added the royalties paid by the shipowners, says the EU in a press release, specifying that “Senegal will no longer receive a financial contribution under the fishing agreement”.

Diplomats explained, on condition of anonymity, that the deficiencies have been identified and have given rise to regular dialogue for several years and that the termination of the agreement is not linked to the Senegalese internal situation. Conclude a possible new agreement “cannot be done overnight, there will be a certain number of actions which will have to be implemented and which will reasonably take several months”said Jean-Marc Pisani.