By: The Fatu Network News Desk
Gambian fishermen say they are caught in an escalating struggle against large foreign fishing vessels known as industrial trawlers, ships equipped with powerful engines and heavy nets designed to harvest massive quantities of fish for international markets. These trawlers are accused of encroaching into the inshore zones reserved for local boats, cutting nets and depleting fish stocks that sustain thousands of Gambian families.
Anger has spilled over into violence, with the Associated Press obtaining videos that include an arson attack on the Egyptian-owned trawler named Abu Islam, where Gambian crewman Kawsu Leigh suffered severe burns. The irony is that Leigh and others like him were placed on board under a government reform requiring foreign trawlers to employ a quota of Gambian crew members, a measure intended to give locals a share of the industry. Instead, these men have been seen by fellow fishermen as siding with the very fleets threatening their survival, turning them into targets of resentment.
In Gunjur, brothers Famara and Salif Ndure say their once-strong livelihood has collapsed, with most of their nets destroyed by trawlers that come as close as five nautical miles from shore despite rules reserving the first nine nautical miles for locals. Replacement costs are beyond reach in a country where annual per capita income is under $1,000.
Meanwhile, an underfunded Gambian navy struggles to enforce the law, relying on sporadic international assistance. Rare court cases, including the fatal collision between a trawler identified as Majilac 6 and a local boat, highlight how disputes at sea are becoming deadlier, even as fears grow that unchecked overfishing could soon devastate one of The Gambia’s two biggest economic pillars: seafood.
