Conflict over fishing turns violent off Gambia's coast

DW (English)

In Gambia, tensions at sea are turning violent in a standoff between local fisherman, and foreign-owned trawlers. Desperate local fishermen are attacking foreign trawlers, and even turning on each other, over the waters off the coast of West Africa.

Transcript

00:00Off Gambia's coast, local fishermen are locked in a running battle with foreign-owned trawlers

00:08for control. A fight fuelled by dwindling stocks and global demand, with devastating

00:17consequences for some of those caught in the crossfire. These injuries are the result of

00:25an arson attack on an Egyptian-owned vessel in July last year. Both men are Gambian crew

00:30members. I feel the hiddenness. It's the hiddenness that I feel. It's not I see the fear. The hiddenness.

00:38Khao Su Li was left with severe burns and now fears for his future. I move here. I go to

00:46Hosul for my family. I have this kind of accident. I think my life is finished.

00:55Incidents like this are causing deep concern, with locals now turning on each other at sea

01:00as competition grows over these waters. And who should be allowed to fish here?

01:06I think there should be a civilised way to handle that and then to jump in one another on, you know,

01:13in the sea waters to fight like that. It's very dangerous. So all this thing is happening. It's a

01:18sea war. Local fishermen believe their livelihoods are now under threat and have no choice but to act.

01:25They say industrial trawlers are fishing closer and closer to shore, violating their waters.

01:31The Enduro brothers claim to have lost more than half of their nets in recent years

01:35and blame the government's decision to reopen its waters to foreign-owned vessels in 2017.

01:41This is the new government. These trawlers are rampant here. Before they were offside,

01:4815-20 kilometres up, but now they used to come up to 3-4 kilometres down here fishing.

01:54This is why they are destroying our nets.

01:56Gambia's government has been trying to do more to calm the waters. It now requires foreign vessels

02:02operating offshore to carry a quota of local crew. It's also using the navy to crack down on illegal

02:08fishing, but it's poorly resourced and relies on international support.

02:12Local fishermen say the government must do more to protect their rights and their futures,

02:21as this fight over Gambia's waters threatens to pull their communities apart.

02:29So, let's take a look.

02:31So, let's take a look.

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