From Senegal to Togo, from Guinea-Bissau to Mauritania, from Tunisia to Ghana, communities
living from maritime fisheries show the same attachment to the sea and face the same challenges.
Between September 2014 and November 2015, the West African Network of Journalists for Responsible Fisheries (rejoprao), in collaboration with the African Confederation of Fisheries Professional Organisations (CAOPA), went to meet artisanal fisheries stakeholders in these six countries.
In each country, we visited fishing sites, had exchanges with groups of men and women living
from fishing, made individual interviews and did documentary research. The goal was to better
understand and honestly describe the realities in which fishing communities have to live and work, and the challenges they face. And to show also that, beyond the often unreliable statistics, African artisanal fisheries are composed of men and women who want to be heard.
Built around a series of six field reports, this publication gives the floor to artisanal fisheries stakeholders, who share with us their fears and their hopes for the future of their activity. We wanted to shine some light on artisanal fisheries. In no case, we claim that this publication gives the full picture of the situation in the countries we visited.
Our gratitude goes to all those who contributed, in different ways, to the production of this report.

On behalf of the Rejoprao
Inoussa Maiga
President

This report was produced with the support of SSNC and CFFA

Download Voices from African Artisanal Fisheries