Reuters reports that overfishing along the African coasts has had a pernicious effect on fish stocks, harming local fishing economies and in some cases robbing communities of a critical source of protein. As the article points out, corruption is a key factor driving the problem:
[Report author Andre] Standing told IRIN that the problem did not "stem largely from rogue fishing companies who evade laws and break regulations with impunity", but "vested interests" that allowed this situation to occur, and that these "vested interests span not only foreign governments and inter-governmental organisations, but also African elected leaders and public officials."
The destructiveness of this sort of activity is difficult to overstate, especially for the severely impoverished areas that are most affected. Aside from the nutritional impact, what should be a sustainable resource is rendered unsustainable by the scale of fishing. Maintaining healthy fisheries is extremely difficult – witness the collapse of stocks in developed countries including the US. And in the African cases, the foreign actors – Taiwanese, Russians, Tunisians, and others – engaged in the practice do not have nearly so large a stake in maintaining healthy fisheries as do locals. Indeed, with fishing licenses purchased from corrupt politicians such a bargain, a tragedy of the commons arises – if the Japanese don’t hurriedly maneuver to gain access, the Spanish or Algerians will. To make matters even worse, the end value of the fish dwarfs the amount being paid for fishing rights. Very little of the fish is processed in the countries; rather it is caught and shipped to the fleets’ home countries for processing and resale. In Mauritania, for instance, only 12 percent of the catch is processed locally. Thus, the export of non-value added commodities so frequently assailed when discussing other extractive industries continues.
For poor countries, where decision making power all too often rests with venal politicians and bureaucrats, reaching solutions is highly difficult. Aside from the fundamental issue of corruption, fisheries management requires international coordination both with other governments and private interests, as well as highly technical monitoring projects, all in a region where harmonizing even between national and subnational governments can be uneven. As the article suggests, increased transparency might represent the best prospects for bringing order to this messy process:
"Efforts by civil society to improve transparency in the extractive industries and logging industries should be a source of inspiration here. In particular, the Publish What You Pay Campaign has helped put pressure on governments and companies to address corruption” [said Standing].
It can only be hoped that these efforts bear fruit quickly, for fish stocks can take significant time to recover. In the meantime, the situation serves as yet another stark demonstration of the breadth of damage that is caused by corrupt and short-sighted policymaking.
UPDATE: See also this report from MIT on the same issue
Picture by Michael Sarver found at MIT International Review
