The issue of illegal fishing and piracy

After reading about and discussing Somali pirates, I have come to the conclusion that to claim they are simply using illegal overfishing and waste-dumping as an excuse to loot and raid other ships is to be ignorant of their history and narrow-minded about human nature and interaction.

As highlighted in Mohamed Abshir Waldo’s article, illegal fishing and waste-dumping has gone on in Somali waters for around two decades now. Most of the participating countries are from the EU, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.  From the sounds of it, they have been taking advantage of the fact that Somalia has little to no government and certainly no power to authorize what is happening in their territorial waters. Stig Jarle Hansen points out that most of the reported hijackings conducted by pirates are not of fishing boats, but does not pay enough attention to the idea that perhaps, because the fishing boats are there illegally, those particular hijackings are not being reported. This would bring unwanted attention to the illegal fishing industry that many modern, powerful countries are a part of. And perhaps tankers are targeted not only because they are slow-moving but also because they dump the most waste?

A few semesters ago, in a class regarding immigration policy, we learned about humans and the concept of “the other.” We were talking about in the context of citizenship and how it creates a clear definition of outsiders, or others, but I believe it can be used in this context as well. The Somali pirates may not see a British tanker as different from a Yemen fishing boat, or a dhow from a cargo ship… At this point in time, after exploitation of their waters and vulnerability, after being treated violently and aggressively by outsiders (Waldo), perhaps the Somali pirates view us as all the same – the “Other” that invade what they see as theirs, treat it badly, take what is not ours, and leave nothing but damaged supplies behind.

I do not think Somali pirates claim environmentalism in the same way that other groups do. I do not think they care about the future of the fish populations in the sense of restoring ecosystems, keeping species alive and leaving no trace of human infringement. I believe it is much more short-term than that. They simply know that high levels of ship traffic, high levels of waste-dumping and high levels of fishing lead to less fish in the water than if there were low levels of all of this. One does not have to be a scientist to observe what happens over time in an environment they are in every day. They also know enough about borders, sovereignty, and states’ rights to feel that the water surrounding Somalia is theirs, but that they do not have a government to defend it for them. This gives them the sense that outsiders are infringing upon their right to survive – their right to use their own water how they need to without the problems that other foreigners bring with them.

Of course, with any movement, there are people with ulterior motives. What was originally a fight to protect their own waters through piracy could have expanded to be motivated by things like money. I am sure there are Somali pirates who do not care about the fishes or quality of their water and simply want money to go and buy food onshore or to purchase things like a new boat or house. However, what is important is that we as an outside society realize that the core of the piracy movement is driven by survival. Regardless of if they want money, fish, clean water, or weapons, these men are trying to survive and see foreigners as either a threat to their survival that need to be dealt with or a way of getting enough resources (money) to survive until the next day. To debate and argue about whether or not illegal fishing is what directly causes piracy is a waste of time. Is there nothing to lose from stopping illegal fishing other than profits for the countries partaking? To stop illegal fishing could possibly cause a large decline in Somali piracy, and if it didn’t at least it would remove that as an excuse for the Somali pirates and the conversation regarding how to stop it could continue.