WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-09-21 Time: 02:00:05 Posted By: News Poster
By Emil Touray
Q.What is the purpose of your organisation?
A.It’s a coalition of European NGOs. We have partners in various African countries. Our partners are primarily small scale artisanal fishing organisations and local NGOs supporting artisanal fishing.
Q.When was this organisation formed? What are its objectives? It was formed in 1992 and its objective is to provide information to our partners about the fisheries relations between EU and their countries so that they can lobby for better conditions for artisanal fishing. Who funds the organisation?
A. The organisation is funded by European NGOs only.So we have funding from NGOs in various European countries; Sweden, France, Germany, UK, etc.
Q.Where do you have your partners in the region?
A. We have a lot of partners in Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania.
Q.What programmes have you been supporting?
A.We do not have any projects, but provide regular information on fisheries agreements, trade issues, people exporting fish into the market and issues that are of interest to them.
Q.Is West Africa prone to illegal fishing?
A. All Africa is prone to illegal fishing, but in West Africa, as there are many artisanal fishermen, it is particularly a problem to them because it threatens their livelihoods. From the artisanal fishermen’s point of view illegal fishermen often come as trawlers fishing illegally in their zone. This is also the cause of many accidents between trawlers fishing illegally and small boats. They are stealing fish and also lives.
Q. How do you think illegal fishing can be mitigated?
A. It’s a complex issue because there is obviously a lack of control measures, but the other aspect is that you need to have political will to combat it because you see that in many cases there are linkages between illegal fishing operators and local people, local businessmen, local politicians. It is not only a technical issue, but also lack of transparency, political will. If you want to fight that you need to address various things such as the technical means for looking at what’s happening at the sea. You can for instance train fishermen to help the controllers because fishermen are at sea all day, so they can see whether the illegal fishermen are there. You also need action to promote transparency about the condition for licensing. Often, some officials issue licences to their friends and families without control. One must ensure that there is political will to address the problem.
Q.Is issuing of licences usually so easy in the region?
A.Yes. Yes, definitely. Well, here I am only echoing what our partners are saying. What our partners often say is that they would like a transparent system of issuing of licences so that there is public access to registry for them and the media to see what boats have been licensed, for what date, and to fish for what, so that we can know which boats are fishing illegally and which are not, whether their activities correspond with the fisheries management plan. For instance, when the fisheries management plan says ten boats are enough to fish sustainable resource and then you see there are twenty to thirty boats, well, there is a problem. This transparency and access to information about licensing and how much is paid when an illegal fisherman is caught, are necessary. Is it not necessary to have harmonized international instruments to combat illegal fishing? Well, illegal fishing companies are international by nature. They are often made up of foreign interest – Asian interest, European interest. It’s a global problem,therefore you need global framework to address it and also local solutions.
Q. What are the constraints impeding the work of artisanal fishermen in the region?
A.It is interesting that I was reading an official document prepared for the fisheries ministers’ conference next week and illegal fishing was described as a problem. Until artisanal fishing is seen as a solution rather than a problem, it will be difficult for artisanal fishermen to earn a decent living from their activity. The impression that the decision makers has about artisanal fishing must change. Today there are crises in the food, fuel, economic and fish resource sectors. If you look at all these you can see that artisanal fishing is the most competitive. It uses small boats that do not use much fuel. It goes for short fishing trips and get fresh fish if they are supported to have cold storage etc etc. So decision makers have to realise that with appropriate support, artisanal fishing is the most competitive effort to address all these problems. It’s a solution rather than a problem.The fact that it is not considered as a solution is the root of many difficulties artisanal fishermen are facing. They are not listened to because they are considered more of a problem than a solution.
Q. Is artisanal fishing a priority for the region compared to industrial fishing, which has the potential to bring a lot of income?
A: It’s a wrong impression. The European market is most lucrative for fish products. I know it because I worked on it, so it is a good indicator. And if you look at fish exported to European market, you see that two countries, Senegal and Mauritania export a lot. In Senegal it is the artisanal fishing sector that is exporting more fish that makes about 8 percent of the landings, including export to EU. It’s a mistake to say foreign earnings attract industrial fishing. That’s the case somewhere but not everywhere. There is space for the artisanal fishing sector to develop the export market as well as remain the main source for local market and food security. This is an area where artisanal fishing has a lot of attention which needs to be known, used and supported.
Given that artisanal fishermen have problems accessing loans to buy equipment, is it not going to be a problem for them to export a lot to the European market? It sounds a bit strange, but in a way, in your region money should not be a problem because you have so many organizations helping now. You have programmes from World Bank, EU, and other big donors for supporting artisanal fishing. The problem is how these funds are being used and whether the fishermen are being consulted about what should be done with these monies. They know they need cold storage, security, equipment, but are these priorities taken into account in the programmes from donors? So you need consultation of the fishing community in order to ensure that the funds are used to answer to their priority needs.
Q.What do you think is the way-forward?
A.There are two elements that can play a positive role in the way forward. One is the organisation of artisanal fishing communities. I think beginning this year a confederation of African artisanal fishing organisation has been launched .
It is new. It has many members from West Africa, but it is open to all. It is important because together you are stronger. The media has an important role to make this kind of voices heard because fishing communities usually have no voice. So the media has an important role to play to ensure that there is a wider public debate about what kind of fisheries sector African people want in the future. Fishing is a strategic resource. All the people in the African region have a right to say this is how we want fisheries to develop.
Q. Are there countries in Africa whose stocks are fast depleting?
A.Most of them.
Q. Which countries and what are the solutions? It’s difficult, but in West Africa most of the high value species are over exploited.
A. I think there should be limited access. At the moment there is in reality free access. Priority access should be given to those that can show they fish in sustainable manner in environmental and social terms, meaning that they provide good jobs with decent working conditions and provide food for local market.
Our position is that these people are artisanal fisher folk. They are fishermen who are the best in ensuring that food security and poverty among other issues are addressed. This is the reason why we feel that artisanal fishing should have priority access and all others come second. If there is surplus of fish, then we discuss industrial fishing. Even then it has to be selective because you can have trawlers covering a six mile zone to take all the fish. That is not sustainable.
Q. How do they destroy the sea bed?
A. They come with trawlers close to the sea shore, sometimes 6 miles or even less to get to the bottom of the sea for shrimps and take everything and also destroy the sea bed. So once they do that five or six times there is nothing anymore. So that kills all lives and the eco-system.
Original date published: 20 September 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201009210016.html?viewall=1