Africa: Illegal Fishing, Piracy on the Rise

By Henry Neondo

JOHANNESBURG---There is dramatic increase in incidents of illegal but unreported and unregulated fishing in African waters (IUU fishing), the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) says in its brief released Wednesday.

According to ISS, while the continuing importance of Africa’s maritime security has been highlighted by the widespread acts of piracy increasingly reported off the coasts of Somalia and Nigeria, what is happening elsewhere in the continent is as disturbing.

ISS says these threats are of particular concern to Southern Africa region, the SADC, whose coasts and shipping lanes are extremely vulnerable.

According to ISS, a British Marine Assessment Group estimates of 2005 shows that IUU fishing off Africa costs the continent nearly US$ 1 billion annually.

In Angolan waters alone illegal fishing in only the sardine and mackerel industries amounted to roughly $49 million annually, more than a fifth of the total value of Angolan fish exports; off Mozambique illegal fishing in the tuna and shrimp industry was set at nearly $38 million. 

“This constitutes a serious challenge to the development and stability of the region, given the importance of SADC’s international seaborne trade and the vital contribution of pelagic resources to regional food-stocks and economic development. Yet it remains questionable whether the gravity of the situation is fully appreciated within the SADC region and whether there is the political will to develop the military/policing capacity to address it”.

The Institute says that although the world has focused its attention on the question of piracy off the Somalia coast where in 2009 alone, 214 ships were attacked by Somali pirates, 47 were actually seized and 867 crew members taken hostage, “piracy is as much a problem of the SADC as elsewhere in the African waters”.

A factor preventing African nations, especially those of SADC, from protecting their own waters is their modest capacity and the lack of political will to remedy this situation.

The African states of the Mediterranean littoral have the majority of the continent’s naval assets and these are not practically available for deployment in sub-Saharan waters.

Shrinking defence budgets and a lack of political interest in maritime matters have left SADC’s navies and coastguard in a state of disrepair.

There are currently only five frigates, seven medium-range patrol aircraft, and 18 short-range coastal patrol craft belonging to Sub-Saharan nations to patrol the 7.8 million square kilometers of coast south of the Sahara.

Four of these frigates belong to the South African Navy and South Africa does not provide support or maritime patrols outside South African waters unless assistance is requested from a neighbouring SADC nation.

“If the threat of illegal fishing and piracy is seen in the context of the role the sea plays in SADC’s economy and international commerce, there can be no doubt that maritime security is essential for SADC’s continued economic and political stability”, says ISS.

In March 2009, the SAS Sarah Baartman, an off-shore environmental protection vessel, completed a four nation transboundary fisheries patrol in South African, Mozambican, Tanzanian, and Kenyan waters. Inspectors from all four countries joined the ship and were responsible for the arrest of six foreign vessels and the inspection of more than 40 vessels.

The joint patrol was the first ever multilateral patrol simultaneously involving four Sub-Saharan countries, and was aimed at improving and strengthening fisheries surveillance and law enforcement in the SADC region as well as increasing co-operation between fisheries surveillance organizations.

However, ISS says maintaining a navy or coastguard that can effectively police the threats presented to SADC’s maritime security requires huge financial and political resources beyond the capacities of most SADC states except that of South Africa.

ISS calls for an integrated approach between the naval and financial resources of the 14 SADC member states that would be essential to minimise the economic strains on any single country of combating what is a regional and continental problem.