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August 30, 2024

Who is actually benefiting from Western African fisheries?

Artisanal fishing vessels arriving at the beach. Saint Louis, Senegal. © OCEANA / Agata Mrowiec

 

In Africa, local communities that depend on fishing for their food security and livelihoods compete with industrial foreign fleets targeting the same fish. After a seven-month collaboration, Financial Times research using data from Oceana unveiled 39 vessels flagged to Gambia, Mauritania, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau. Even if the vessels were flagged to these countries, they had ownership or management links to European companies.

The article exposes how the lack of transparency in the financial arrangements of joint ventures between EU and West African companies makes it difficult to determine how much of the proceeds benefit local people. Researchers were surprised by the number of vessels identified, but there may be even more, given the lack of comprehensive registers.

Oceana is urging the European Commission to disclose information annually on EU companies that own vessels with non-EU flags. Making this information public would increase pressure on Member States to stop allowing their nationals to own vessels with flags of convenience, which enable operators to evade fishing rules or sanctions.

Currently, only a limited number of EU countries have measures to encourage their citizens to report if they hold interests in vessels flagged to a third country. Because no Member State has made this mandatory, foreign ownership  is rarely notified to authorities, even though it is necessary to combat money laundering, and the EU has made it mandatory under the IUU Regulation.

Learn more: Who is profiting from illegal fishing?