Fishermen of Somalia

An article published this week in numerous international media, including the Huffington Post, states that piracy around the Horn of Africa is in decline. Statistics are quoted to show that piracy attacks in that region are falling, however no statistics are quoted about the forms of piracy occurring in the area - the IUUs and toxic waste dumping.

Another article by the creator of Somali Report, Robert Young Pelton, also points out that piracy is decreasing and also cites the fact that only 1% of commercial ships that travel around the Horn of Africa are attacked.

But one article published this week, Somalia's fishermen struggle to make a living from pirate-infested seas, does not appear to be getting the same amount of coverage as the above two. This article interviews the chairperson of the Banadir fishermen's union, who talks about the difficulties facing Mogadishu's fishermen - both on land and at sea. He says that although Somalia has the longest coastline in Africa, they are the 'poorest fishermen in Africa'.

One fisherman in the article states, "There's no dignity in being a fisherman any more, At sea, armed men in speedboats search you because they say you look like a pirate and when you come back soldiers can shoot you if you return outside curfew hours." (The fisherman was referring to being shot at by African Union troops as he returns to port after 5pm)

There are several reasons that the fishermen of Somalia are struggling, but there can be no denying that the 'Coalition of the Willing' is a threat. Various media have reported on fishermen being killed and injured both at sea and on land, including Somali Report and Bloomberg. But not many of these cases are investigated, however in India two Italian marines have been charged with the murder of two Indian fishermen - killed on the assumption that they were pirates.

The seas around the Horn of Africa are dangerous - there are numerous navies, private security, floating armouries and mercenaries all supposedly patrolling this area to keep the international shipping lanes open. But there is neither little done to protect the fishermen and the environment from both IUUs and the dumping of toxic waste and nor is there adequate media coverage and investigation of what is happening in the waters around the Horn of Africa,

The IUUs and dumping of toxic waste needs to be stopped.

Book Highlights Toxic-Waste Dumping

A recently published book about organised crime once more highlights the dumping of toxic waste off the coast of Somalia.

'Crime, Trafficking and Networks', published in May this year, reports on the links between several organised crime groups in southern Italy and some Somali warlords. Interestingly, the attention-grabbing title and opening sentence of the article about the book, focus on possible links between the Mafia and Somali pirates. But what follows are claims by the Paris-based criminologist, Michel Koutouzis, that it is some Somali warlords who the Mafia supply "... with black market small arms from the Western Balkans in return for permission to dump waste."

Koutouzis then goes onto point out that, "Tonnes of waste are discharged every year off the coasts of Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea under the noses of countless warships which control sea freight in the Read Sea and the Gulf of Aden."

He says that the practise has been going on for years, and refers to 'After the Tsunami', the UN Environment Taskforce report of 2005 that spoke of the toxic waste washed ashore with the 2004 tsunami.

According to the article, both the EU's special envoy for the Horn of Africa, a former Greek diplomat, and the commander of Atalanta, a British rear-Admiral, were interviewed about the information in the book. The special envoy said that the matter was being 'checked'. However, the rear-admiral said there was "...no hard evidence of the Italian link,.."

Koutouzis' response was that, "Of course they know about it. But they don't want to do anything."

Mauritius Agrees to Try Somali 'Pirates'

On Friday 18th May, Mauritius announced that as of June it would officially begin to try people arrested by other countries for piracy around the Horn of Africa. This makes four countries in the area willing to prosecute piracy - Kenya, Tanzania, the Seychelles, and now Mauritius.

A final contract between the EU and Tanzania is still awaiting signing before Tanzania can proceed.

And although the Kenyan Court of Appeal is still waiting to deliver its decision about whether Kenya actually has the legal right to try pirates arrested outside of Kenyan waters; Kenya is still accepting alleged pirates to prosecute. Read about that landmark courtcase here.

Many of the countries doing the arresting and capturing, those involved in the 'Coalition of the Willing' are actually unwilling to prosecute the people they themselves capture. The various governments often cite the risks that the people will apply for asylum after any trial.

Maybe therefore they should consider arresting the IUUs and boats dumping toxic waste.

Most of those ship owners and firms that produce the waste are people from the countries that make up Atalanta, Ocean Shield, CTF 151 and IONS and all the other independent navies patrolling in the waters off Somalia. Then there would be no worry about people seeking asylum.

Controlling the Resources

The Australian mining company, Jacka Resouces has just announced that it will be joining three other international companies: Ophir Energy, Asante Oil and Prime Resources, in setting up camp in Somalia. This announcement comes only a month after the much touted London Conference on Somalia.

The February London Conference was seen by some people as nothing more than another attempt to further carve up Somali resources. Jacka's announcement confirms it.

At the Conference there was little or nothing done to protect the Somalian coastline from either the international IUUs fishing boats or other vessels dumping toxic waste in the region. The focus of the Conference was on making Somalia and the waters around the Horn of Africa safer for international trade. It also focused on strengthening the presence of foreign forces in Somalia itself, building more prisons in Somalia to hold convicted 'pirates' and opening Somalia up to more trade.

Countries represented at the Conference agreed that more money and resources will be poured into expanding the forces already present in the Gulf region; the UN has already agreed that the role of AMISOM (the African Union Mission in Somalia) is to be expanded.

The Conference concluded with the call for 'all countries to coordinate activities against terrorism and piracy and to bring stability to Somalia'. Words that many see as an excuse to control the resources not only off the coast of Somalia, but also the purported reserves of natural gas, iron ore, tin, uranium, copper and other metals present in Somalia.

The Australian company Jacka Resources could be one of the first foreign companies to strike it rich. It would be interesting to see if Jacka is connected with Orica Limited, a publicly-listed Australian company that has been linked with the dumping of toxic waste off the coast of Somalia.

Dead fish

In mid-January three tonnes of dead fish were found washed ashore near Bosaso. Bosaso, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, is one of the main ports in Somailia.

The Minister of Fisheries in Puntland has said that the dead fish are a result of toxic waste dumping in the Gulf and around the Horn of Africa.

Despite repeated calls from Somalia, environmental agencies and many people around the world for countries to halt this practice, toxic waste dumping around the Horn of Africa is ignored and allowed to continue. The UN gives mandates to countries to patrol the waters to stop piracy, but nothing is done to stop the dumping.

More can be read about the dumping of toxic waste in Somalia's waters on the following pages: 'A Rainforest of Fish' and 'Piracy or a Resource Swap?'.

A 1 in 300 risk

There's been an interesting argument going on in the English courts over the last few months. It's a debate that focuses on the risk of a ship being attacked by pirates whilst going around the Horn of Africa. And the risk, both shipping companies and the courts agree, is actually only 1 voyage out of every 300 transits a ship does.

That is, one transit out of every 300 is at risk.

And allegedly because of this risk, the EU has continued Operation Atalanta to the end of 2012 and is considering expanding its powers so that Atalanta forces can now legally go on Somali land. The USA has just announced that it is expanding its presence in the Gulf of Aden with a floating SEAL base.

Somali piracy is seen as a huge threat and money continues to be poured into stopping the 'pirates' but little is done to stop the IUU fishing boats or the dumping of toxic wastes. It continues.

The details of the actual court case have received minimal coverage in the mainstream press, however it is covered in legal websites and journals. The case involved a Panama flag-flying ship, Triton Lark. The ship was charted by a Hong Kong company, Pacific Basin, to carry a load of Potash from Hamburg to China via the Suez Canal from its disponent owner - the Norwegian firm 'Bulkhandling Handymax' (The real ship owner is Triton Navigation B.V., an Amsterdam company part of the Japanese multi-national Sumitomo Group).

Because of the risk of piracy, the Norwegian firm refused to sail through the Suez Canal and therefore costs of the voyage increased. Pacific Basin then sued for those costs to be covered; both sides agreed that the actual risk is only one in 300 transits. The matter has been referred back to the arbitrators.

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: 

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