Somali Fishermen Struggle to Compete with Foreign Fishing Boats

 

Each morning, fishermen in the Somali port of Bosaso pull in their catch of tuna, marlin, and other fish.

The waters off northern Somalia are some of the richest in Africa. As businesspeople negotiate at the port over the price of fish, the daily catch looks plentiful¹.

But all is not well for the local fishermen. Many are unhappy about larger, foreign boats that enter Somali waters. The locals say they are losing out to the foreign fishers.

“Now there is illegal fishing, fish stealing, and so on," explains boat captain Mohammed Elias Abdiqadir. He told VOA that some of the foreign fishing boats come from Iran.

"We don’t have a powerful government who can stop these illegal fishermen who are creating problems," said Abdiqadir.

Foreign boats in Somali waters have been a problem for years, he added. Some of them operate without the government’s permission. Others buy permits from Somali officials, at times under questionable² conditions.

From protectors to pirates

Ten years ago, Somali fishermen took up arms against foreign boats. The fishermen hoped to retake their waters from the outsiders. But some of the Somalis then became pirates. They attacked and hijacked³ oil transport and other commercial ships off the Horn of Africa.

At one point, Somali pirates were seizing more than 40 ships a year and holding hundreds of sailors as hostages.

An international naval⁴ effort has mostly stopped the threat from pirates. Somalia has started to build small local navies, including the Puntland Maritime⁵ Police Force, which guards the waters off Bosaso.

But neither has been able to clear the area of foreign fishing boats.

Abdiqadir says one problem is that the foreign boats are larger and have better technology than the Somali boats, which are mostly small and made from fiberglass.

“They fish in the deep ocean, and they have long nets and better tools than us," he said.

Somalia's fledgling fish industry

But the problems for Somalia's fishing industry do not only lie off the coast.

Bosaso's port needs more modern equipment to prepare fish in a clean, healthy environment to export. And there is yet to be a strong, dependable system for exporting Somali fish overseas.

A new program by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization may prove helpful to Somalia's fishing industry.

Just outside Bosaso, women have been trained to process fish meat into a dried fish product to be sold in inland Somalia.

The women work on clean tables, where they cut fresh fish into pieces and let them dry.

The bright sun naturally cures and purifies the meat.

Local young people catch the fish. The FAO trained them in deep-sea fishing. The organization provided them with larger, better-equipped boats that can reach the most profitable sea creatures.

The women are paid with money and fresh fish each day to feed their families.

“This job works for me fine because my home is here," explains Daawo Sheikh Mahamoud, who recently started working at the fish processing station. In the past, she said, her children were cared for by neighbors while she worked. But now, she said, "I can take care of them while doing the work in the morning."

Australian Michael Savins, a fisheries and boatbuilding expert, designed the program. He says it employs more than 100 people, including fishermen at sea and processors on land. He hopes that number will increase to 500 by the end of this year.

The idea, he explains, is to employ local Somalis, and eventually start selling Somali fish internationally.

I'm Caty Weaver⁶.

Words in This Story

captain – n. someone who leads or supervises

commercial – adj. related to skills or subjects used in business

fiberglass – n. a light and strong structural⁷ material

net – n. a device for catching⁸ fish, birds or other things

eventually – adv. ?at some later time: in the end

1 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

2 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

3 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

4 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

5 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

6 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

7 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

8 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。