"Any Somali on the sea is a pirate"

On 7th December the Deputy Commander of the EU NavFor  (Atalanta) officially handed over to the Djibouti navy six outboard motors that had been confiscated from suspected Somali 'pirates'.

It is not uncommon for Somali fishermen to complain about harassment from both the foreign military vessels in their waters and the illegal fishing boats (the IUUs). In July the Italian Navy was linked with the disappearance of three Somali fishermen (Somali Report, 5/07/2011)
Locals have said that the military ships don't differentiate between so-called pirates and fishermen, "It appears that as far as the naval forces are concerned any Somali on the sea is a pirate."

Read more about the foreign military campaigns, the IUUs and the illegal fishing going on in the Horn of Africa.

Another US drone gone

Iran is not the only place that the US has lost a drone. On December 13th a US drone crashed at the international airport in Seychelles.
The drone is one of several that are part of an American military-base in the Seychelles. The US has had a base in the Seychelles since 2009 and the drones are used to surveil both Somalia and the Horn of Africa - the pre-text being to combat piracy. However, they are not used to track or catch the IUUs present in Somali waters, nor are they used to catch the ships that dump toxic waste in the waters off Somalia, waste that comes mainly from European countries and Australia.
It is interesting to note also that just this month, the Seychelles invited China to also open a military base there. Again the pre-text being anti-piracy.
The Horn of Africa continues to be one of the most militarised ocean areas of the world.

UN on IUUs

Resources are seemingly pouring non-stop into campaigns such as Atalanta, CTF-151 and Operation Ocean Shield, and the independent navies continue to patrol the Horn of Africa.

But not much action occurs against the IUUs (Illegal, Unreported and Unregistered fishing vessels).

This week the UN General Assembly in New York expressed concern:

... that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing constituted a serious threat to fish stocks and marine habitats and ecosystems, putting the economies of many States — particularly developing States, who were frequently the most vulnerable to risks related to climate change and economic crises — in danger.

However, it is just a concern. There is no hard action to be taken against these pirate vessels.

(Links to information about IUUs can be found on this page.)

A Rainforest of Fish

"It's been like a long gold rush for Thai, European, Yemeni and Korean boats. We have some of the richest fishing grounds in the world. Scientists say it is like a rain forest of fish. But our fishermen can't compete with the foreigners in big ships who come to steal from our waters." Abdulwali Abdulrahman Gayre, vice minister of ports and fisheries for Puntland.

The Somalian coastline, the longest in Africa – over 2,000 miles / 3,330 km long, is known as one of the richest sea resources in the world. Yet, instead of stopping those who are dumping toxic waste there, or stopping over-fishing and illegal trawling, the UN and the international 'community of nations' are pouring huge money and resources into counter-piracy and counter-terrorism actions. 

The UN have passed several resolutions allowing the use of force against Somali 'pirates', both at sea and on land: 

Read more: