The Foundation for Environmental Justice closely monitors the evolution of fish stocks on the Senegalese coast and explains its decline by, in particular, industrial and illegal fishing which, added to the climatic context and other factors, deprives a whole segment of the population directly dependent on fishing.
When fish began to disappear from the Senegalese coast, Ibrahima Mar, interviewed by AFP , first lost his livelihood, then his own son, and with them, an entire way of life that had sustained his family for generations.
Industrial and illegal fishing has contributed, among other factors, to the decline of fish stocks in the region, depriving this West African country of essential income and a vital source of nutrition.
« Fish are being increasingly plundered
, » this 55-year-old fisherman told AFP .
From his fishing village in Rufisque, on the outskirts of Dakar, Ibrahima says that all the fish are taken in their path. So, there’s no hope left…
Bottom trawlers and industrial vessels, which generally fly the Senegalese flag but whose true nationality of shipowners is difficult to determine, ship their catches abroad.
If you dig a little deeper, the effective ownership
of the boats in Senegalese waters belongs to Spaniards, Italians, French, Chinese, or Turks, among others, Bassirou Diarra, head of the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) in Senegal , explained to AFP . Not only is there a shortage of fish for the Senegalese market, for food security, but the money that should be flowing back into the national economy isn’t coming back either
, the activist emphasized.
He said that illegal practices include fishing in prohibited areas, the use of non-regulation nets, and failure to respect marine protected areas.
Resource collapse
A 2025 EJF report highlights that 57% of exploited fish groups in Senegal are in a state of collapse.
Faced with dwindling resources, more and more fishermen are clandestinely attempting the perilous Atlantic migration route to Europe .
Among them were two of Ibrahima Mar’s sons. The first made the crossing. A few years later, his younger son, then about 17 years old, called his father: he was in a pirogue with 140 people heading for Spain. The family waited for news for days, then weeks. He never reappeared.
Along the 700 kilometers of Senegalese coast, the ubiquitous brightly colored wooden pirogues bear witness to an essential activity: more than 82,000 people work in fishing, representing approximately 2% of the active population, according to the latest census.
In terms of tonnage, what a pirogue used to catch in two months now takes six to seven months to catch
, laments Mamadou Diouf Sène, president of the Rufisque fishing wharf revenue commission.
From the carter to the ice seller, via the fishmonger and the processor, a multitude of professions depend on the sector.
On the quayside, fishmonger Fatou Seck offers sea bream, white carp, and mullet. » Times are really tough
, » the 39-year-old told AFP . « For many of us […] this work is our only source of income to feed our children ( Editor’s note: Fatou Seck has six ) . »
The increase in the number of artisanal fishers, attracted by a profession requiring little training, has also contributed to the decline in fish stocks. Estimates of the number of canoes vary between 12,000 and 19,000.
Added to this is climate change, which is pushing small pelagic fish in West Africa – small species, often living in schools, which are traditionally fished by Senegalese people – to move north.
New technologies to regulate this maritime « Wild West »
Fish stocks have been declining for about forty years, but artisanal fishermen really became aware of the problem when small pelagic fish, such as sardinella and horse mackerel, began to disappear about fifteen years ago.
The idea that Senegal might one day have to import fish, a product of national identity and a major natural resource, is catastrophic
, Ibrahima Mar exclaims.
Cheikh Salla Ndiaye of the Directorate of Fisheries Protection and Surveillance believes that surveillance at sea is very difficult
, adding that the agency is being helped by the navy and the air force.
Ibrahima recently boarded a Greenpeace vessel with four other fishermen to learn how to better spot and report illegal fishing.
Previously, the high seas were compared to the Wild West, because it was impossible to know what was really going on there
, Sophie Cooke, a fishing vessel analyst at Greenpeace, told AFP from the deck of the boat.
But new technologies, including location devices and satellite radars, and even smartphones that fishermen can use to take pictures and precisely locate boats, are changing the game , she adds.
These are tools that Ibrahima Mar plans to introduce to his community. With his two sons, both fishermen, having now left home—one in Spain and the other lost at sea—the decline of the fish population is for him a personal tragedy as much as an economic one. As for his third son, he has decided to enroll him in a training center: he is currently learning metal welding.
source : Le marin
