Senegal Dhaka (AP) – According to a report released on Tuesday, the Senegal country's fish stocks are too much fishing for Senegal, which in turn drives immigration to Spain.
The Environmental Justice Foundation, a London group specializing in environmental and human rights issues, said illegal overfishing and destructive practices of foreign ships are responsible for increasing irregular immigration to Spain. Its conclusions are based on interviews with Spanish and Senegal fishermen and previous studies on foreign overfishing.
The group found that 57% of Senegal's fish stocks were in a “collapse state” and foreign ships played an important role in the decline in numbers. Its analysis shows that 43.7% of licensed ships in Senegal are foreign-controlled, mainly of Spanish and Chinese descent.
As fish populations decrease, local fishermen face loss of income, and many turn to immigration as a last resort. Fishing is an important economic sector in Senegal, accounting for 3% of the labor force.
According to the Spanish Ministry of Interior, irregular migration to the Canary Islands has almost doubled by 2024 to 46,843. Although exact figures are not known due to the lack of information about departure from West Africa, Senegal is one of the top three nationalities in the Spanish archipelago.
The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the deadliest routes in the world. The Spanish immigration rights group pedestrian border estimated that victims were thousands last year.
Immigrants and former fishermen in the Canary Islands told the Environmental Justice Foundation that a dangerous journey to Spain is a last resort, and when fishing in Senegal, it provides families with a way to no longer put food on the table.
“If I could make enough money on fishing, I would never come to Europe,” Memedou Racine Seck said.
Local activists in Senegal expressed frustration at foreign overfishing and their contribution to the immigration crisis. Karim Sall, president of the Senegalese organization Agire operating in the Joel Fidmouth Marine Reserve, condemns the role of foreign countries in the crisis.
“When[foreigns]complain about immigration is because they are real pirates, and what they do is worse than secret immigration. It's theft, plundering our resources to feed our residents while we suffer.”
Industrial foreign fleets, many of which use bottom trawling technology, exacerbate the crisis. These ships drag heavy nets to the bottom of the sea, unselectively capturing young fish and destroying marine ecosystems such as seagrass and coral reefs, which is crucial for fish reproduction. As a result, fish stocks cannot be recovered, deepening the difficulties for local fishing communities and diners. Fish play an important role in food security in Senegal, especially in protein consumption. Due to the decline in fish stocks, per capita consumption in Senegal has dropped from 29 kg per year to 17.8 kg per capita.
The report also pointed out that the lack of transparency in fishing permits and that the government's insufficient management of fisheries is the cause of the factors. Despite the Senegalese government’s efforts to resolve the crisis, experts warn that the situation would worsen without stricter regulations on industrial foreign fleets.
Immigrant and former fisherman Souleymane Sady arrived at the Canary Islands in 2020 and summarized the situation for face fishermen in Senegal: “We cannot work properly as the government cannot regulate the ships, so we chose to escape from the country for stability,” he said.
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Following the AP's African Report:
