'...All of them carry the Fu Yuan Yu name and were found to be displaying activities suggesting fishing in the Senegalese EEZ', Greenpeace
Chinese trawlers with an illegal fishing record have been licensed by Senegal
SENEGAL
Tuesday, October 13, 2020, 16:00 (GMT + 9)
The following is an excerpt from an article published by Quartz Africa:
Senegal’s fisheries ministry has issued fishing licenses to vessels of a Chinese industrial fleet involved in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity in recent years, according to a new investigation by the environmental group, Greenpeace.
The report, Seasick: As Covid-19 locks down West Africa, its waters remain open to plunder, is based on the activist NGO’s observations of fishing vessels and fish meal and fish oil factories in Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania between March and July.
It digs into the events surrounding the unprecedented 52 foreign vessels that applied for fishing licenses from the Senegalese government earlier this year, amid lockdown restrictions owing to the coronavirus. The applications infuriated several Senegalese fisheries stakeholders, including artisanal fishermen, industrial shipowners and civil society organizations.
Photo of fishing license for Fu Yuan Yu 9889 (Source: Greenpeace)►
Never before had so many foreign vessels applied for licenses, especially with the lockdown constraints and food insecurity. Civil society groups like, APRAPAM, argued that granting the licenses would amplify the fishing pressure on Senegal’s waters, threaten sustainability and the livelihoods of artisanal fishing communities already suffering from the restrictions in place to combat the pandemic.
The uproar forced the fisheries ministry in June to publicly announce its rejection of the 52 applications. But local media reports uncovered evidence showing that the government secretly issued a license to the Chinese vessel, Fu Yuan Yu 9889 on April 17. And the vessel’s operator, Univers Peche, went on to seek licenses for an additional nine vessels. Greenpeace also confirmed local media reports showing two of those vessels from the Fu Yuan Yu fleet, Fu Yuan Yu 9885 and Fu Yuan Yu 9888, received licenses. For local fisheries stakeholders, these licenses have also exposed Senegal’s opaque licensing process.(continued...)
Author: Chidinma Irene Nwoye / Quartz Africa | Read the rest of the story by clicking the link here
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