The impact of China’s fishing policies on West Africa

A beachside fish market in Dakar, Senegal, filled with boats and fishermen. Image via Flickr. Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Moktar Diop and Mohamed Jawo are young Senegalese friends who, like their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and many others in their coastal community, work in the fishing industry off the coast of Dakar.

Moktar shared how he found himself in this profession:

Je me suis convertie à la pêche comme la plupart des membres masculins de ma famille car je n'arrivais pas à trouver du travail après avoir quitté l'université. J'ai joint mes forces avec mon ami Jawo pour faire face à la vie. Cependant, je ne gagne presque rien à cause de la présence de vaisseaux étrangers incontrôlés qui détruisent les nids de poissons.

I converted to fishing just like most of my male family members because I could not find jobs after leaving university. I joined forces with my friend Jawo to cope with life. However, I earn almost nothing due to the presence of uncontrolled foreign vessels that destroy fish nests.

Now, the pair are struggling to make a living and considering abandoning their community in order to make ends meet. Senegal is one of many countries affected by devastating overfishing due to illegal Chinese fishing vessels. Senegal’s unemployment rate remains high because, according to Greenpeace, an environmental organization working in more than 50 countries in the world, including West and Central Africa, the introduction of mass-scale fishing techniques by Chinese vessels has devastated local fishing industries, leaving many without their livelihoods.

Fishermen in a brightly colored fishing boat, commonly found in fishing communities off the coast of West Africa. Image from Wikipedia, Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 2.0

The arrival of distant-water fishing vessels from China and other countries like Russia has devastated the local fishing economy. When large trawlers enter local waters, traditional fishers using dugout canoes struggle to compete. These trawlers use nets up to a mile long, sweeping up everything in their path and sometimes damaging local fishing nets.

These types of vessels have sparked international debates over environmental damage, as bottom trawling can significantly harm and even kill aquatic fauna and fish species that rely on aquatic fauna for food, shelter, productivity, and thus sustainable harvest may diminish with increasing levels of seabed disturbance.

A Chinese fishing trawler. Image from Picryl. Public Domain.

Greenpeace estimates that more than 400 Chinese fishing vessels are currently operating off the coast of West Africa. These vessels rake in over EUR 400 million annually through their fishing activities, according to figures from the Ministry of Fisheries of the People's Republic of China.

In Senegal, about 220000 people work in the fishing industry; 90 percent are artisanal fishers, while the remaining 10 percent work on foreign vessels, joint ventures, or local industrial trawlers.

Now, Moktar and Jawo must reach remote waters to get fish, as much of the coast is occupied by Chinese vessels. The competition between Chinese vessels and local boats has become impossible, they say, and, in a country where the jobless rate exceeds 23 percent, many young people are losing hope.

To compensate for the declining domestic catches, China has also expanded its distant-water fishing (DWF) operations since 2000. But the expansion of China’s distant-water fishing industry has sparked international debate over its lack of sustainability and transparency. According to the China Fisheries Statistical Yearbook, in 2022, China's pelagic fishery production was 2,329,800 tons, and the number of pelagic fishing vessels was approximately 2,551.

According to a report by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), much of China's fishing fleet operates across various developing countries, with one-third of the operations located in Africa, Asia, and South America. These regions often have limited fishing capacity but heavily rely on fisheries for economic development and food. Chinese fleets often employ large-scale fishing techniques that pressure local fisheries and fisheries’ livelihoods. Some activities are allegedly illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU), attracting external scrutiny.

Since 1989, China has been the world’s largest fishing nation, capturing 13.14 million metric tons (MMT) of fish in 2021, nearly double the second-largest producer, Indonesia, which captured 7.2 MMT. In 2022, China's fishing output accounted for 40 percent of the global catch, with a significant portion coming from its distant-water fleet.

Overfishing in West Africa

According to the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers, illegal fishing has resulted in the loss of over 300,000 artisanal or traditional fishing jobs in West Africa. Consequently, many people are forced to seek work in other industries or even abroad. Many young people, unable to stay in their hometowns, try to migrate to Europe through Morocco, risking their lives along the way.

West African coastal nations, such as Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia, face similar challenges. Although some have signed fishing agreements with China, ongoing illegal fishing continues to affect local ecosystems.

To promote sustainable fishing, China has heavily invested in aquaculture in recent years and gradually reduced marine capture fisheries. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), China’s marine catch dropped from 14.4 million tons in 2015 to 11.8 million tons in 2022, a decrease of about 18 percent.

However, China’s distant-water fishing has not declined. According to the China Fisheries Statistical Yearbook, China’s distant-water fishing output reached 2.33 million tons in 2022, a four percent increase from the previous year, accounting for nearly 18 percent of the world’s total fishing output.

Domestically, China has actively promoted sustainable aquaculture since 2021, focusing on green farming technologies, managing wastewater emissions, reducing the use of drugs for aquatic animals, and substituting compound feed for juvenile fish. The proportion of aquaculture has increased annually, with China contributing 55.4 percent (3.3 million tons) to Asia’s aquaculture growth in 2022. However, China has not transferred these sustainable aquaculture technologies to West African countries, focusing instead on training local fishermen and establishing processing factories, which accelerates the exploitation of local marine resources.

The pitfalls of fishing agreements

Despite China’s official statements emphasizing the protection of fisheries, there are frequent reports of Chinese vessels fishing illegally. For instance, in May this year, Senegal’s Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy published a list of approved vessels, but Chinese ships were absent. Nevertheless, local fishermen reported seeing Chinese fishing boats in nearby waters.

People's Republic of China President Xi Jinping shaking hands with Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embaló. Image via YouTube Screenshot. Free to use.

Not all of the Chinese vessels are fishing illegally. For instance, China has maintained fishing agreements with several West African countries, such as Guinea-Bissau, where the China National Fisheries Corporation established its first overseas production base in 1985 and currently deploys 11 bottom trawlers.

However, even publicly signed sustainable fishing agreements have proven detrimental to West African countries. A study analyzing EU sustainable fishing agreements with West Africa found that these deals often resulted in unequal outcomes — the financial compensation received by West African nations was far less than the value of their marine resources. China and Russia are among the participants in these agreements.

Some West African countries have recognized the inequality of these fishing agreements. Senegal’s new government, for instance, has announced plans to renegotiate previous economic contracts with the EU and carry out fisheries reforms.

In addition, countries like Senegal and other African countries depend much more on the financial leniency of China, which often opens its wallet to finance government works on the continent and in Senegal as well through it's Belt and Road Initiative.

In the meantime, those suffering most under these policies are the local small-scale fishermen who, for generations, have relied on the coast to sustain themselves and their families. Mohammed Jawo said: “We have skills, but we watch helplessly in the face of this injustice inflicted on us by contracts that grant our oceans to others who will enrich themselves. We hope that the new Government of Ousmane Sonko will renegotiate these unfair contracts.”

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