Illegal Industrial Fishing Reduces Food Supply in Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau, one of Africa’s poorest countries, is afflicted by chronic malnutrition that is affecting one quarter of its 1.8 million population, according to the World Food Programme.

Fisheries offer an important way for the country to improve this situation. Guinea-Bissau’s exclusive economic zone, which stretches 200 nautical miles out from its coastline, covers 106,000km2 and some of West Africa’s most abundant fishing grounds, according to a 2017 paper published in Frontiers in Marine Science.

Small-scale fishing provides over 35% of citizens’ animal protein intake and employs more than 255,000 people, the paper notes. But much of the economic and nutritional potential of the country’s fisheries are threatened by illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Image

Image alternative text

livus, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago)

From the article:

Fighting IUU fishing is particularly difficult in Guinea-Bissau due to shortcomings in the justice system.

The general fisheries law has a sliding scale of fines for fishing offences: very serious offences, like fishing in prohibited zones, carry a maximum fine of 250 million CFA ($420,000); less serious infractions, such as failure to cooperate with monitoring personnel, result in a minimum fine of 1.5 million CFA ($2,500).

Domingos Quade, a lawyer and politician from Guinea-Bissau, says these lighter fines are too easily paid by fleet owners and the existing laws should be strengthened: “For example, the law should be clear in defining limitations for the fishing boats, the type of nets to be used, how to use them – and laws should be enforced.”

The legal framework that regulates fishing in Guinea-Bissau’s waters is lacking in several aspects, according to a 2022 report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The report says the law is not regularly reviewed or updated, making it insufficient for supervising fishing or effectively managing fish populations.

reply

report

activity

copy /kbin url

copy original url

open original url

Loading...

Add comment