In July 2005, in Guinea, a fisheries inspector died during a nightly encounter with a trawler fishing illegally. A few months earlier, it was the whole crew of an artisanal pirogue that went down through a similar encounter. Of the 4 crew members, only one fisherman survived, clutching on to a few buoys for three days at sea, waiting for help. Illegal fishing in Guinea results not only in stolen fish, but also in lost lives.
Guinea has extensive and valuable shrimp, octopus, demersal and pelagic fisheries. Like the proverbial bees to the honey pot, this attracts all kinds of fishing vessels, including the ones involved in IUU (Illegal Unreported and Unregulated) fishing. In 2001, a Greenpeace report of at sea observations in Guinea’s EEZ highlighted that 34 of the 92 vessels (34%) observed were fishing in an prohibited zone, largely taking catch from the area designated for artisanal fisheries, and therefore illegal
These illegal activities, in particular by Korean trawlers fishing for “otholites” (type of croaker/grunter), have been denounced for many years, particularly by Guinean artisanal fishermen. Issiaga Daffe, President of the artisanal fishermen’s organization UNPAG (Union Nationale des Pêcheurs Artisans de Guinée), explains “Illegal incursions of trawlers into the Guinean coastal zone are the most damaging practice for fishing resources as well as our coastal communities. These incursions result not only in degradation of our coasts, but also, particularly as they happen mainly at night, in collisions with small scale fishing vessels, incur loss of gears and casualties. Some of our fishermen, who tried to discuss with these illegal boats crew, were often welcomed with gun fire or boiling water being poured on the pirogues”.
In May 2005, a joint field visit was organised by two European NGOs, EJF (Environmental Justice Foundation) and CFFA (Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements), with the collaboration of the Guinean association ADEPEG –CPA. Several ports and bases along the coast of Guinea were visited, where the extent of illegal fishing and the need to support for surveillance programmes were glaringly apparent.