2023-05-31 12:02:00
- Overfishing undermines the environmental and socioeconomic rights of communities, while depriving them of a key source of protein
Gambian authorities must allocate all necessary resources to the Navy to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
Too much Gambian fish is being used to feed other fish and farm animals abroad
Authorities must ensure that fishing companies and factories do not harm the human rights of local communities and are held accountable for their abuses
Today, in a new report, Amnesty International has urged the Gambian government to take all necessary measures to eradicate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, combat overfishing and strengthen the transparency of fisheries agreements to protect local communities in The Gambia.
The report, titled The Human Cost of Overfishing examines the impact of the fishing industry on human rights, including the activities of fishmeal and fish oil factories and the damage caused by foreign-owned industrial trawlers. In June 2021 and March-April 2022, Amnesty International carried out investigations in Banjul, the Gambian capital, and in the coastal region of Sanyang, a tourist destination as well as a fishing center with a large olive oil factory. fish.
“The bad practices of certain agents of the fishing industry are damaging the environment and undermining the livelihoods of the population. The Gambian authorities must urgently take all necessary steps to hold them accountable and protect the human rights of affected communities, including their economic and social rights,” said Samira Daoud, West and Central Africa Director at Amnesty International.
“The Gambian government and international community actors operating in the affected areas must ensure that both foreign vessels and fishmeal and fish oil factories respect national and international fisheries regulations. It is critical that local communities be able to continue using sustainable methods to fish”.
Overall, it is estimated that The Gambia, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone lose US$2.3 billion a year to illegal fishing.
The report includes testimonials from fishermen, vendors and restaurant owners in Sanyang, who have seen their livelihoods threatened by depleting fish stocks. Many people find it difficult to buy enough fish because of the rising prices.
The situation of Sanyang, a coastal town that depends on fishing, is especially dire. In addition to the presence of foreign-owned industrial vessels — sometimes engaged in illegal fishing — they have seen the foreign-owned Nessim Fishing And Fish Processing Co., Ltd (Nessim) fishmeal and fish oil factory built in the community at the end of 2017 and became operational in 2018.
The species most persecuted by this type of factory are the sardinella and the bonga fish, essential for the livelihood of coastal communities.in addition to having been an affordable source of protein to date.
“Local communities are being deprived of their right to a decent standard of living and their rights to health and food. The Gambian authorities must act urgently to better protect the environment and the fundamental rights of these communities. The socio-economic rights of the Sanyang communities are being particularly threatened”, warned Samira Daoud.
The women farmers who work in the vicinity of the Nessim factory say that the productivity of their land has decreased due to the increase in pests and insects that destroy their vegetables since the factory started operating. Consequently, they have to make efforts to grow their produce in sufficient quantity, and their profits have declined.
A Sanyang restaurant owner told Amnesty International: “If the coronavirus has bankrupted companies, the effect of the fishmeal factory is even worse. […]. We knew that the coronavirus would last a specific time but, with the flour factory, we don’t know when we are going to get out of this situation.”
All the owners of beachside restaurants, accommodations and juice bars claim to have lost customers due to the stench generated by the factory, which the Amnesty delegation had the opportunity to perceive during their visit. This is seriously affecting the local tourism industry.
Small-scale workers in the fishing industry – including those who dry fish or smoke it – claim that foreign-owned fishing vessels completely deplete the fish, regardless of regulations. A fisherman from Sanyang says: “Fishing has become difficult since we started seeing the big boats […]. They take all the fish.
Abi*, a fish dryer, refers to Amnesty International: “The work is difficult now because there are no fish […]. I work for small boats. We work for them, and they pay us with fish. Sometimes they give us fish that we sell later, and they don’t even pay us 50 dalasis (US$0.80) for it.”
Fishing workers often have to compete with foreign industrial vessels that, since there are not enough Gambian Navy patrols, they dare to get closer to the coast than they are allowed to do in the areas reserved for artisanal fishermen.
These illegal fishing practices severely affect the livelihoods of local communities, whose survival depends on fishing. In addition, they carry a risk of food insecurity, since fish is a fundamental source of protein for the Gambian population. The large amount of fish exported each year through the activities of foreign industrial vessels and fishmeal factories is rapidly depleting the fish stocks available to local communities.
Also deeply concerning is the impact of overfishing on the environment. With fish stocks declining to unsustainable levels, the biodiversity of marine life – there are at least 500 species of fish in The Gambia – is under threat.
In 2020, a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concluded that sardinellas and bonga fish were overexploited, and sardine stocks were also being depleted. This overexploitation is due to the activity of all the agents of the fishing industry, including the fishmeal factories.
Members of the local Sanyang community also expressed deep concern for the environment. Nessim has been fined several times by the National Environment Agency for not properly treating its wastewater, which it discharges into the sea. For their part, fishermen who supply fish to the factory have had to throw the dead fish back into the sea on several occasions, after Nessim refused to buy them, with which the beaches have ended up full of dead fish.
“The Gambian authorities must thoroughly investigate the socio-economic and environmental impact of the fishmeal and fish oil factories, and provide redress to those affected in the local community,” said Samira Daoud.
A number of Sanyang residents claimed that Nessim, which had started operating in the area in 2018, had not adequately consulted local communities. Although the company claims to have held community consultations prior to going live, more than a dozen residents affected by the factory’s activities told Amnesty International that they had not heard of any such consultation.
The Sanyang alkalo (local chief) states: “The problem is that the Council of Elders did not receive the necessary information. The memorandum of understanding never reached the community. They did it between the previous head of development, representing the community, and the company, but no one has ever seen that memorandum of understanding ”, he concludes.
Nor were any of the women Amnesty International spoke to, who had been doing gardening in a spot next to the factory for decades, consulted before the factory arrived. One of them explains: “Before they built the factory, this is where we made rice. We saw some boys removing the earth and [el exjefe del Comité de Desarrollo del Pueblo] he told us that they were going to give us rice […]. It was community land, a rice field for everyone.”
“The Gambian authorities must ensure that – as part of their environmental impact assessment studies and before starting work – companies hold genuine consultations with communities that may be affected by their projects, as set out in the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations. Environmental Impact of 2014. Nessim must consult the community regularly and comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, for which, among other measures, it must put in place a due diligence process in order to address the impact of the factory in terms of human rights”, said Samira Daoud.
“The government must also make public information about fishmeal factories and the number of foreign vessels authorized to fish in Gambian waters. It must also allocate all necessary resources to the Navy to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing The Gambian authorities and international community actors operating in Gambian waters must act without delay to protect the rights of communities local fisheries and preserve the environment for future generations.
All companies in the fishmeal supply chain must also exercise human rights due diligence, including publicly reporting the origin of their products. Companies purchasing fishmeal must trace their supply chains and analyze any human rights risks to which they may be directly linked due to their relationship with suppliers.
Amnesty International has seen first-hand some of the consequences of the fish shortage and the company’s activities on the community. Our delegation interviewed 63 people, including some who worked for Nessim Fishing and Fish Processing, members of civil society organizations, government officials, hospital staff and other affected people in the community.
The socio-economic and environmental impact of overfishing in The Gambia contravenes that country’s obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights relating, in particular, to the rights to food, work and health.
*Name changed to protect identity.
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