Small-scale fishers battle trawlers to stay afloat in Sierra Leone

Testimony: Alpha
Location: Sierra Leone

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Organising small-scale fishers to push trawlers offshore

Testimony: James
Location: Liberia

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Life as an artisanal fisher – Trawling in Liberia

What is life like for an artisanal fisher in Liberia? Hear from Sylvester as he describes his life as a small-scale fisher, sharing the same waters as industrial trawlers.

Testimony: Sylvester Kanneh, Fisher
Location: Robertsport, Liberia

Small-scale fishers like Sylvester are organising into local co-management bodies called Collaborative Management Associations (CMA). CMAs work to secure legal and sustainable fisheries by acting as custodians of the resources they rely on, safeguarding the future of Liberia’s waters. Read about the work coalition member the Environmental Justice Foundation is developing with CMAs in Liberia here.

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Interaction between trawlers and artisanal fishers – Trawling in Liberia

When small-scale fishers and bottom-trawlers collide, tensions and conflict arises.

Testimony: Sylvester Kanneh, Fisher
Location: Robertsport, Liberia

Small-scale fishers like Sylvester are organising into local co-management bodies called Collaborative Management Associations (CMA). CMAs work to secure legal and sustainable fisheries by acting as custodians of the resources they rely on, safeguarding the future of Liberia’s waters. Read about the work coalition member the Environmental Justice Foundation is developing with CMAs in Liberia here.

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Why I spent two years working on a trawler – Trawling in Liberia

After two years hard labour onboard a Chinese trawling vessel, a Liberian fisher reflects on his time and experiences trawling in the country’s waters.

Testimony: Anonymous Fisher
Location: Robertsport, Liberia

Small-scale fishers in Liberia are organising into local co-management bodies called Collaborative Management Associations (CMA). CMAs work to secure legal and sustainable fisheries by acting as custodians of the resources they rely on, safeguarding the future of Liberia’s waters. Read about the work coalition member the Environmental Justice Foundation is developing with CMAs in Liberia here.

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The origins of the 6-mile limit – Trawling in Liberia

Sylvester and Cole reflect on the origins of the 6-mile nautical limit for trawler vessels and discuss what has changed since then.

Testimony: Cole, fisher
Location: Robertsport, Liberia

Liberia introduced a 6 nautical mile artisanal fishing zone in 2010. The regulation effectively reduced conflicts between the industrial and small-scale fishing sectors, but some incursions have continued. The Coalition for Fair Fishing Arrangements has documented recent cases in which deep water shrimp trawlers have fished inside the 6 nautical mile artisanal fishing zone in a series of news articles.

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Shrimp return to the locally managed bay in northern Madagascar

In Madagascar’s Tsimpaika bay, community-led habitat restoration coupled with appropriate fishing regulations – including a ban on shrimp trawling within 2nm of the coast – has revived an important coastal fishery.

Testimony: Nantenaina Ardo Nirisoa, Blue Ventures, Site Leader for Ambanja, Tsimipaika Bay
Location: Tsimpaika Bay, Madagascar

In July 2021, the Government of Madagascar imposed a prohibition on industrial shrimp trawlers fishing in waters within 2 nautical miles (3.7 kilometers) of the country’s coast. Small-scale fishers, who for years have clashed with the industrial vessels, welcomed the new rule and are calling for its implementation. Read more on Mongabay.

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Why small-scale fishers in Chile want to see an end to industrial bottom trawling

Zoila Bustamante Cardenas, President of the Latin American Union of Artisanal Fisheries and of the Confederation National Association of Artisanal Fishermen of Chile (CONAPACH), explains why CONAPACH’s 60,000+ members want to see an end to industrial bottom trawling.

Testimony: Zoila Bustamante Cardenas, President of the Latin American Union of Artisanal Fisheries and of the Confederation National Association of Artisanal Fishermen of Chile (CONAPACH)
Location: Chile

Read the Small-Scale Fishers’ Call to Action developed by CONAPACH in partnership with other small-scale fisher organisations here. Follow CONAPACH’s updates on Twitter here.

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The end of trawling in Belize

A decade ago the last two trawlers fishing in Belize’s waters were removed from service. Hear from a spokesperson for the fisheries cooperative that owned those vessels about how the trawling ban affected their economic output, in the decade since.

Testimony: Roberto Butista, Assistant Manager of Credit and Finance, Belize Northern Fisherman’s Cooperative
Location: Belize City, Belize

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Small-scale fishers and trawling in Belize

A decade ago trawling was outlawed within Belize’s exclusive economic zone. Small-scale fishers from coastal communities share their reflections on what it was like when trawling was allowed, and share what has changed in the decade since

Testimony: Vonetta Dawson, Fisher; David Elijio, Fisher; Veronica Tun, Fisher; John Pasqee, Fisher; Michael Coote, Fisher;
Location: Belize City, Belize

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Bottom trawling is irresponsible fishing – Perspectives from Gambia

Dawda Foday Saine from Gambia representing the Confederation of African Artisanal Fisheries Professional Organisations (CAOPA), explaining that bottom trawling is an irresponsible method of fishing which is a threat to responsible fishing, especially by small-scale, artisanal fishers who cannot compete with industrial scale bottom trawling.

Testimony: Dawda Foday Saine, from the National Association of Artisanal Fisheries Operators (NAAFO) and Secretary General of the African Confederation of Artisanal Fisheries Organizations (CAOPA)
Location: Gambia

Read the Small-Scale Fishers’ Call to Action developed by CAOPA in partnership with other SSF organisations here. Follow CAOPA’s updates on Twitter here.

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Small-scale fishers call for restrictions on bottom trawling in Indonesia

Alhafiz Atsari from the Indonesian Traditional Fisherfolk Union explains how small-scale fishers have the knowledge to sustainably manage fisheries, whereas industrial scale fishing vessels do not fish sustainably. Bottom trawling has been banned in Indonesia for nearly 40 years, but enforcement can be a challenge. KNTI joined the TBT Coalition to raise awareness of the impacts of bottom trawling internationally.

Testimony: Alhafiz Atsari, Head of International Relations at the Indonesian Traditional Fishermen’s Union, Kesatuan Nelayan Tradisional Indonesia (KNTI)
Location: Indonesia

Follow KNTI’s work on Twitter here.

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Reflecting on the decline of local fisheries and turtle populations due to bottom trawling in Malindi

Lali Mohamed Lali is an ecotourism operator working from Malindi on Kenya’s central coast. He wants to see an end to coastal bottom trawling due to the damage it has inflicted on local fisheries and turtle populations, which impacts his livelihood.

Testimony: Lali Mohamed, Beach Tour Operator, Malindi
Location: Watamu, Kenya

Bahari Hai is a community-based organisation in Watamu that works with fishers to protect and manage their coastal fisheries and ecosystems. Read Bahari Hai’s report on issues impacting small-scale fisheries and turtle populations in the Ungwana Bay and Surrounds area to understand how bottom trawling impacts Lali and others in his community.

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How bottom trawling has affected turtles and small-scale fisheries around Sabaki Bridge

Mwakia Mgao Makazi has witnessed the decline in fisheries’ catches and turtle nesting acticity since bottom trawlers started fishing in her community’s fishing grounds and calls on fisheries managers to restrict the practice to revive coastal livelihoods.

Testimony: Mwakia Mgao Makazi
Location: Sabaki Bridge, Kenya

Bahari Hai is a community-based organisation in Watamu that works with fishers to protect and manage their coastal fisheries and ecosystems. Read Bahari Hai’s report on issues impacting small-scale fisheries and turtle populations in the Ungwana Bay and Surrounds area to understand how bottom trawling impacts Mwakia and others in her community.

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A call for government action on bottom trawlers to protect small-scale fishers’ rights

Yunus Aboud is Chair of the Shela Beach Management Unit (BMU) in Malindi, Kenya. As chair of the BMU, he is respinsible for the sustainable management of his community’s local marine resources. He’s struggling to find a path forward to address the tensions between bottom trawlers, which are damaging coastal ecosystems and degrading local fisheries, and small-scale fishers, who rely on these same ecosystems and fisheries for their livelihoods and food security. He calls on the national government to take action to address bottom trawling so that small-scale fishers’ rights can be upheld. As a first step, he wants bottom trawlers to fish further offshore, away from artisanal fishing grounds.

Testimony: Yunus Aboud, Chair of the Shela Beach Management Unit (BMU)
Location: Malindi, Kenya

Bahari Hai is a community-based organisation in Watamu that works with fishers to protect and manage their coastal fisheries and ecosystems. Read Bahari Hai’s report on issues impacting small-scale fisheries and turtle populations in the Ungwana Bay and Surrounds area to understand how bottom trawling impacts Yunus and others in his community.

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Spatial management for bottom trawling and dredging in Scotland

Bally is the National Coordinator of the Scottish Creel Fisherman’s Federation (SCFF). As the son of a trawlerman and a member of a rural coastal community in Scotland, Bally has witnessed the social, economic and ecological impacts of bottom trawling and dredging first-hand. Bally is calling on the Scottish government to introduce spatial management for bottom trawling and dredging to create trawl- and dredge-free areas in which fisheries and ecosystems can recover.

Testimony: Bally Philp, National Coordinator of the Scottish Creel Fisherman’s Federation
Location: Inner Sound, Scotland

Support the movement to revive Scotland’s inshore fisheries and ecosystems by signing Our Seas petition here and follow SCFF’s work on Twitter here.

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The impacts of bottom trawling on small-scale fishers and fishworkers in Somalia – Nadifo Mohamud Jama

Nadifo Mohamud Jama describes how the arrival of foreign-owned bottom trawlers have damaged fishing grounds around Bander Beyla and undermined small-scale fisheries. She wants to see the government act to address illegal fishing by investing in enforcement activities.

Testimony: Nadifo Mohamud Jama, Bander Beyla Fishers’ Cooperative
Location: Bander Beyla, Somalia

Secure Fisheries supports the community in Bander Beyla to manage their local marine resources through local co-management institutions. Learn about the work communities are doing to co-manage Somalia’s fisheries here.

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The impacts of bottom trawling on small-scale fishers and fishworkers in Somalia – Ahmed Ismail Abdi

In the past, fishers in Ahmed Ismail Abdi’s community in Bander Beyla would catch large volumes of fish. But since the arrival of industrail bottom trawlers which ‘sweep like brooms’, catches have fallen dramatically. He wants the government to take action to protect Bander Beyla’s important coastal fisheries.

Testimony: Ahmed Ismail Abdi, Liason for the Bander Beyla Fishers’ Cooperative
Location: Bander Beyla, Somalia

Secure Fisheries supports the community in Bander Beyla to manage their local marine resources through local co-management institutions. Learn about the work communities are doing to co-manage Somalia’s fisheries here.

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