African artisanal fisheries at the forefront of the fight against predatory and opaque industrial fishing companies

For decades, African coastal countries have welcomed foreign industrial fishing vessels into their waters, often with the stated objective of developing their fishing capacity.

However, as many countries restrict access to their resources to national operators, this requires the owners of these foreign vessels to set up joint ventures with nationals of these countries.

In most cases, these joint ventures are fictitious, as the African national partner in the joint venture is a figurehead used to register the foreign vessel locally, thus giving access to the country's fish-rich waters. With rare exceptions, the activities of these joint ventures are opaque and conceal corrupt practices that allow joint venture vessels to fish as they please without respecting fisheries management and ecosystem conservation measures, threatening the survival of local artisanal fishing communities.

Over the past ten years, CAOPA has been highlighting the impacts of these foreign-owned fishing companies on coastal communities, and calling for the creation of a transparent and sustainable framework for their activities.

At the end of 2020, CAOPA organised a webinar, followed by a face-to-face meeting in Senegal, on the theme: 'Joint ventures in fisheries: towards a more sustainable and transparent framework'. Combined, these events brought together more than eighty participants, including men and women representatives of artisanal fisheries organisations from Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and civil society organisations.

Based on concrete cases from Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Madagascar, and with the support of lawyers and experts, the participants asked themselves how to make the activities of these mixed fishing companies transparent? How to organise and control their activities so that they do not have a negative impact on the lives of coastal communities? How to ensure that they contribute to the public finances of the host countries through fairer taxation?

One of the worst examples: Côte d'Ivoire

The case of Côte d'Ivoire illustrates the excesses of the joint venture system. Out of 80 industrial fishing vessels based in the port of Abidjan, 55 are managed by joint fishing ventures under Ivorian law, with managers of Chinese nationality. The contribution of the Ivorian partner in terms of share capital is derisory, generally one or two million CFA francs, while these companies may manage more than ten vessels. As the publication Spotlight recently noted, the fact that such companies hold few assets "may make it difficult or impossible for authorities to identify the true owner of the vessel, or to impose financial penalties other than through seizure of the vessel itself, which may not have a significant financial impact on the owner, and may instead have a significant cost to the country in the form of port charges, resale or dismantling".

Vessels managed by these joint ventures often use the flag of the host country, as in this photo taken in the port of Bissau: vessels with Chinese-sounding names flagged in Sao Tome. Photo: CFFA.

The vessels managed by these companies are of Chinese origin and are either "ivoryed" (they re-flag the vessel) or chartered (they keep the Chinese flag). The ivorying of a vessel grants advantages to the shipowner, including: exemption from fuel taxes, reduced port charges, lower cost fishing licence, or priority for administrative purposes. The conditions of Ivorianisation, defined by the Ivorian Maritime Code (Art. 69 to 72), such as: being owned by natural or legal persons of Ivorian nationality for at least one third; being manned by a staff composed of 100% Ivorian nationals as regards officers and at least 75% Ivorian nationals as regards other crew members, are never respected. Systematic derogations are given by the authorities.

In the vast majority of cases, these fishing companies do not respect the fishing regulations in force either. For example, the company HAINA, established in 2019, in Abidjan, with a share capital of 1,000,000 FCFA (1,500 euros) manages six trawlers of Chinese origin: the HAILUFENG 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. In June 2020, the HAILUFENG 11 was arrested for illegal fishing, having disconnected its AIS tracking system, in Nigeria.

A second example, the company RONG CHANG is established in Abidjan (with a share capital of 2,000,000 CFA, i.e. 3,000 euros) but also in the Republic of Congo. A few years ago, several RONG CHANG boats were banned from fishing in Congo for illegal fishing in the 6-mile zone, which is a breeding area. In 2020, the local press reported that RONG CHANG was building a huge fishmeal production unit, hidden from view, for China.

Impacts on coastal communities

Fishermen, trade unions and women fish processors meeting in Senegal at the end of 2020 at the invitation of CAOPA (see video below) listed the destructive impacts of the activities of these vessels in joint ventures. One of their main grievances is that the vessels operating with joint ventures engage in illegal practices that threaten artisanal fishing: the vessels turn off their tracking systems (AIS and VMS), do not respect protected areas (including breeding grounds) or fishing zones reserved for artisanal fishing, sometimes even physically attacking fishermen who protest against their presence. They practice destructive, non-selective fishing, including illegal fishing of protected species.

The working conditions in which the crew members on board are working are appalling: no sanitary facilities, sleeping and eating on the filthy floor, and suffering ill-treatment from the Chinese crew managers.

For local communities, these companies do not provide any added value, on the contrary: The fish caught by these joint ventures is exported to the Chinese market, either frozen or in the form of fishmeal, while the women fish processors lack fish to process for the market and the local people. This is a threat to the future of these women's activities, but also to the food security of local communities.

This has raised the concern of consumer associations present at the CAOPA meetings, who note the scarcity and rising price of fresh or processed fish at local markets.

The positive experience of joint ventures for deep-water shrimp fishing in Senegal

If joint venture vessels respect a series of conditions, in terms of transparency, respect for the rule of law and do not compete with local artisanal fishing, their activities can contribute to the economic development of the host country. Examples are rare, but they do exist. This seems to be the case with the exploitation of deep-water shrimp in Senegal, by the six vessels of the Coopérative Sénégalaise des exploitants de crevettes profondes (COSECPRO), five of which are joint ventures.

A management plan for the deep-water shrimp fishery was drawn up and implemented from 2013. The head of COSECPRO, Mr Alassane Dieng, explains that this plan is based on wealth creation, ecological awareness and also social equity. The management of resources is done through a quota system where the state defines the maximum total quantity of shrimp to be caught per year, divides it up and distributes it to individual fishing companies, which can sell it to each other. A monitoring system is attached to the quota system, with rigorous application of good practice: biological rest, selectivity tests, reliable data collection, systematic sampling, life history studies, as well as negotiation and joint purchasing of inputs and transparency on the revenue to be shared between the state and private operators.

The success of this model is due to the fact that the number of operators is limited, and that there is little interaction with the artisanal fishermen as they do not fish this resource. However, caution must be exercised because of the risks associated with the attractiveness of the resource, which could tempt other vessels to join in.

Sharing the experience of COSECPRO gave the participants in the CAOPA meetings an example of what can be done to manage the activities at sea of fishing vessels in joint ventures, so that their activities do not have a negative impact on the life of coastal communities and are in line with a sustainable fishing perspective.

Lessons from Senegal's mining code

Participants were also strongly inspired by the regulations that have been put in place in Senegal for the mining sector, from which the fisheries sector could learn.

Senegal's 2016 Mining Code requires all mining title holders to comply with the principles and requirements of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Every mining title holder is thus obliged to declare all its mining revenues, including economic and social achievements. The Mining Code also requires the allocation of 0.5% of the mining companies' pre-tax turnover to the Local Communities Support Fund, and also provides for the payment of 20% of state revenues from mining operations to this support fund. In addition, the Mining Code provides for the establishment of a fund for the rehabilitation of mining sites, to be paid for by all holders of a mining permit.

Senegal's 2016 mining code is an example of good practice (declaration of mining revenues for holders, funds for local communities...) and could provide avenues for better management of joint fisheries ventures. Photo: Shane McLendon/Unsplash - illustration image.

These same principles could be applied to fisheries, respecting the criteria set out in the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) standard: publication of lists of licensed vessels, fees paid, texts of private fishing agreements, etc. Joint venture fishing companies must also ensure that reliable and relevant information on their activities, structure, financial situation and results is published regularly. Unsurprisingly, in the action plan they put in place at the end of the CAOPA meetings, the first action is to advocate for African countries to commit to the FiTI standard.

Setting up a compensation fund for losses due to illegal fishing activities and overfishing and investing part of the revenues in the development of sustainable fishing industries across Africa is one possible way to repair the damage caused by joint venture vessels to ecosystems and coastal populations.

As states explore ways to revive their economies post-Covid, particularly through the blue economy, these proposals from artisanal fisheries stakeholders and civil society are welcome. Their implementation could serve to put foreign industrial fishing in African waters on the path to sustainability and respect for the activities of coastal fishing communities.

More information:

• Read the report of the meeting: 'Joint ventures in fisheries: towards a more sustainable and transparent framework'.

Banner photo: Paul Einerhand/Unsplash

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