No boats go to sea lately

“If I was able to gain enough money in fishing, I would never have come to Europe.”

These are the words of Memedou Racine Seck, a Senegalese migrant and former fisherman. His experience underscores the findings of a new report that concludes that overfishing by foreign vessels is driving rising numbers of Senegalese to risk the world’s deadliest migration route to Spain’s Canary Islands.

Seck told the non-profit Environmental Justice Foundation (EFJ), who authored the research, that 13 people died on board during his journey to Spain.

Fishing is key to Senegal’s economy, providing employment for some 3% of its workforce, and is central to the country’s food security

But the livelihoods of small-scale Senegalese fishers face a growing threat from industrial fishing by foreign vessels which export most of their catch to markets in the EU and, increasingly, China.

The report comes after two environmental NGOs, ClientEarth and Oceana, filed a lawsuit against the Spanish government last month accusing it of failing to investigate and sanction Spanish-flagged vessels suspected of illegal fishing practices off the coasts of Senegal and Guinea Bissau.

Decades of overfishing

The country’s fish populations are threatened, the report found, citing modelling that suggests 57% of the species fished in Senegal are collapsing. It points to decades of overfishing by both industrial and small-scale fleets, as well as ballooning export volumes

Ships relying on bottom trawling, where vessels drag a weighted net across the ocean floor, are particularly damaging to marine ecosystems, and more than 90% of Senegal’s industrial fishing fleet are bottom trawlers.

The report concludes that overfishing and illegal fishing are depleting fish populations, exacerbating food insecurity and driving up poverty. In turn, this is pushing people to take their chances with the perilous crossing from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands.

The number of irregular migrant arrivals to Spain reached a record of 63,970 in 2024, according data from Spain’s interior ministry — more than double the figure from 2022. The majority arrived in the Canary Islands, where arrivals soared by 200% between 2022 and 2024. Senegal is among the top three nationalities of arrivals to the islands.

Rising numbers of people are attempting the journey, despite the route from West Africa to the Canary Islands being among the most dangerous crossings in the world. A total of 3,176 migrants are estimated to have died trying to cross from Senegal to the Canary Islands in 2023, according to the Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras

In August 2023, a boat was discovered drifting off the coast of Cape Verde, having left Fass Boye, a coastal fishing community in Senegal, a month before. There were only 38 reported survivors among the 101 people on board.

‘No boats go to sea lately’

Modou Boye Seck, who lost his “sons, nephews, and grandson in this tragedy”, blamed Senegal’s fishing crisis. He told the EFJ: “No boats go to sea lately. And that’s the difficulties the young people are dealing with, and it caused this tragic death upon them, and that’s the most heartbreaking thing.”

Karim Sall, President of AGIRE, a Senegalese organisation operating in the Joal-Fadiouth marine protected area, expressed his anger at the impact foreign overfishing was having on coastal communities.

“I get so angry when [foreign nations] complain about immigration because they are the real pirates and what they did is worse than clandestine immigration,” he said.

“We are risking our life to go, but they come here to steal our fish. It’s theft — plundering our resources to feed their own inhabitants while we suffer.”

The report outlines key recommendations to the Senegalese government, the EU, and industrial fishing entities operating in Senegalese waters, to deal with the crisis facing Senegal’s fisheries and cut the numbers making the crossings.

It calls for more robust governance and transparency to support Senegal’s fishing sector and the communities that rely on it.

Steve Trent, CEO and Founder of the EFJ, stressed the myriad impacts of the crisis facing Senegal’s fishing sector.

“Small-scale fishers face overwhelming competition from industrial vessels, leading to deteriorating living conditions, diminished food security, and lost livelihoods. The consequences are far-reaching, contributing to a troubling increase in migrant deaths at sea.”

He urged the European authorities to “end this now, and return Senegal’s fisheries to the people of Senegal”.

A European Commission official told Euronews that the commission has a zero-tolerance policy toward illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

The official said the commission had identified Senegal as not cooperating in fighting such practices in May last year, and that European vessels left Senegal’s waters in last November.

They added that the EU “remains willing to support Senegal in its efforts to combat IUU fishing and help it address the identified shortcomings”.