GUNJUR – The artisanal fishing sector in West Africa faces an existential threat as a result of opaque government access agreements and the expansion of industrial trawlers, which continue to deplete regional stocks.
Local fishers, who have sustained coastal economies for generations, now find themselves priced out of their own markets and physically endangered by massive foreign fleets operating in their traditional waters.
The industrial pressure has led to a dramatic spike in the cost of local staples. In The Gambia, the price of a basket of bonga fish has nearly tripled between 2021 and 2025, jumping from 1,200 dalasi (US$16.60) to 3,000 dalasi.
This inflationary pressure is largely attributed to overexploitation by foreign-owned vessels, many of which utilise destructive methods like bottom trawling and small-mesh nets that catch juvenile fish before they can reproduce.
Industry observers note that the lack of public disclosure regarding fishing deals remains a primary hurdle for regional governance. A 2015 study indicated that access fees paid by foreign fleets typically represent less than 10% of the value of their catch, suggesting that West African nations are capturing only a fraction of the economic rent generated by their natural resources.
While some nations like Mauritania have seen success by joining the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), others have struggled to maintain standards. Senegal was recently delisted from the initiative for failing to implement mandatory transparency steps, coinciding with the expiration of its fisheries deal with the European Union. These governance gaps create an environment where illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing can thrive with relative impunity.
The economic imbalance is further exacerbated by global fishing subsidies, estimated at US$22 billion annually. Experts argue these subsidies make industrial fishing artificially profitable, allowing large-scale operators to outcompete local artisanal fishers.
The World Trade Organisation’s 2022 Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies aims to curb these practices, but its effectiveness hinges on ratification and rigorous enforcement by member states.
The human cost of this competition is increasingly visible on the coastline. “Local fisherfolk face a clear and present danger to their livelihoods simply because of the unchecked presence of more advanced and bigger trawlers in our waters,” says Madi Jobarteh, founder of the Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice.
As regional governments weigh the short-term revenue of foreign deals against long-term food security, the survival of the artisanal sector remains in the balance.
“The government’s silence on these deals suggests they are prioritising foreign interests over local livelihoods and environmental sustainability,” notes Kebba Jeffang, West Africa editor for Dialogue Earth, who is based in The Gambia.
