Mirage of Pirates: State-Corporate Crime in West Africa's Fisheries

André Standing

doi:10.13169/statecrime.4.2.0175

Abstract

This article applies the concept of state-corporate crime to the fisheries sector. It presents a case study from Senegal where Russian, European and Asian fishing firms supported by their home governments, gained access to overfished stocks that are vital to local food security and the artisanal fishing sector. The discussion elaborates on the main observations from Senegal about the nature and implications of state-corporate crime, drawing on further evidence from other countries. It provides a contrasting perspective to mainstream fisheries policy, including the global fight against “fish pirates”, and the dictates of the wealth-based approach to fisheries reform.

Highlights

There is increasing awareness on the dreadful ecological and social impact of industrial fishing across the world
This article suggests that the concept of state-corporate crime is a useful starting point to understand these problems
For the past few years, illegal fishing has been regularly depicted as the activities of “fish pirates” by international organizations such as

Summary

Introduction

There is increasing awareness on the dreadful ecological and social impact of industrial fishing across the world. The Senegalese and Russian foreign ministers provided a joint statement on the announcement of the pact, describing how “the private sector must be the engine of their co-operation” and “that fishing is a priority sector which will be very profitable for the two countries’ (ibid.) This is not a new arrangement; the Soviet Union had a series of bilateral fisheries agreements with several African countries, including Senegal, in the 1970s and 1980s. Before the foreign trawlers were provided authorizations and licences, the Senegalese National Institute for Fisheries Research had recommended a 50 per cent reduction of the fishing effort on small-pelagic stocks to stem overfishing (CFFA 2011a). At the beginning of 2015, Senegalese NGOs organized a meeting to reiterate that only Senegalese fishers should have the right to fish for small pelagics in Senegal’s waters

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion