As part of their fishing agreement, China offers compensation for ’the damages that Chinese trawlers inflict to Guinean artisanal fishermen’

Various articles published in the Guinean press in the last month indicate that, as part of a fishing agreement between Guinea and China, which allows for (at least) 30 chinese trawlers to fish in zones where artisanal fishermen are also fishing, some leaders from the National Union of Guinean artisanal fishermen have received compensation funds. A fisherman, representing young Guinean artisanal fishermen, highlights in an interview that, ’every six months, China offers 150.000 USdollars, as compensation for the damages that the chinese trawlers inflict to artisanal fishermen’. Last month, at the occasion of the launch of the ’Chinese hospital’ built in Kamsar, this amount was given publically by the Minister to a leader of the National Union of Guinean artisanal fishermen. That raised questions and anger from young fishermen, as they are not benefitting from these funds. Fishermen interviewed also denounced the intervention of the authorities in the nomination of the National Union of Guinean artisanal fishermen leaders. The press articles report that the fishermen leaders who received the compensation were later arrested in relation to the misappropriation of these funds, but rapidly freed under pressure from the authorities.

Sources : Press article, GUINEE24.COM, 9 May 2012http://www.guinee24.com/index.php?i...[tt_news]=5670&cHash=f7e442c5b311da8a52b3fb63bc02d404 Press article, Guinee news, 23 April 2012 http://guineenews.org/articles/deta...

West African Media and Artisanal Fishing Professionals: Raising awareness about sustainable fisheries issues

In the recent years, West African artisanal fishing organizations, CONIPAS (Senegal), FNP – section artisanale (Mauritania) and UNPAG (Guinea) recognised that, in their communities, there is insufficient access to information relating to responsible fisheries. In the same way, scientists, decision makers and public opinion, do not take sufficient account of the views of artisanal fishing professionals, whether on social, economic, cultural issues, or on our relation with the natural environment.

Facilitating access to information is crucial for the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries by members of professional organizations, their families and the overall coastal community. It is also important to valorise, through improving information flows, traditional knowledge, and innovations proposed by artisanal professional in a perspective of responsible fishing.

Medias, radio in particular, - as it is widely listened to by fishing professional, even those who are not able to read-, but also newspapers and television, can play a bigger role to improve community access to information. But information must be presented in an appropriate format, so as to be of interest and accessible for all people from the community.

That’s the reason why these artisanal professional organizations decided to organize a regional meeting between media and fishing professionals, to explore how responsible fisheries issues can be better publicized in coastal communities, and how communities’ point of views and experiences for promoting sustainable fisheries can be better known and recognised, with media help. Given such support, coastal communities may get a better say in the decision making process.

The organisers are convinced that information appropriately tailored to the needs of coastal communities, and their participation in the creation of information is a necessary ingredient for the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. This is because fishing professionals are not only resource users but are also amongst the managers of these resources.

West African Media and Artisanal Fishing Professionals

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Illegal fishing in Guinea: stealing fish, stealing lives

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.

Illegal fishing in Guinea: stealing fish, stealing lives

Letter received from the EC on IUU fishing in Guinea

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